


ABW One-Shot Side Stories, Concept, and Beta

by Danny_RPG_NineTwoOak



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's, Food Fantasy (Video Game), One Piece, Rick and Morty
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Gen, Humor, It's a bunch of ideas and one-shots please don't take this seriously, Light Angst, Oh yeah there's a Monty Python parody in here too, Original Character(s), POV Female Character, POV First Person, Parody, Sarcasm, Teen Angst, self-aware
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21804760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danny_RPG_NineTwoOak/pseuds/Danny_RPG_NineTwoOak
Summary: Basically, what this is is a series of one-shots starring the characters from my fanfiction Anomaly Between Worlds, but are somewhat irrelevant to the main story.  In this short series, the avatar/character Danny RPG gets turned back into a human and can switch between her human form and her dragon form by “glitching”.  (She can also make her weapons, dragon wings, and tail materialize in her human form.)  To get a good description of her human appearance, she wears jeans, tennis shoes, high-tech glasses, and a long-sleeved novelty shirt under a red leather jacket with a grey hood.  She has the average height of a teenager, light brown eyes, white skin, and brown hair that naturally fade to black at the tips.  Also, Chapter 3 is written in Milk's point of view.  Just thought I might bring that up.Update: This series will now also include crazy shit I've written in the past for ABW from a file called "Fandom Concept and Beta.odt" and a Google Docs file called "Random Shit and Stuff".  What you'll see here (aside from the one-shots) are a bunch of ideas for the story, and if a chapter here appears in the actual fanfiction, it's pretty obvious what that means.





	1. Circus Baby (FNaF: SL)

**_"_** ** _Uuurrrrrggghhhh...."_** ** _I moaned groggily as_** I get up from the floor. "That's the last time I fight an Aizen and two Amasake in the middle of the night." I regain my bearings and look around where I am. If I'm not mistaken, Spring Town should be – wait, this isn't Light Kingdom. "Where the hell am I?!" I exclaimed. I'm trapped in some sort of elevator with a giant fan spinning overhead. There is a continuous rumble on the floor, and the dim light gives a feeling of unsettlement as I look around to see all sorts of cables, metal parts, and a few buttons near the doors. Next to the doors, there is a poster of a green-eyed animatronic girl with orange hair (not actual hair, but you get the idea) and a red dress on the left that reads _CELEBRATE!_. There are two smaller animatronics next to the green-eyed robot. On the right is a poster of a blue and white ballerina animatronic with three smaller beige ones that look like puppets wearing simplistic comedy masks that says _DANCE!_. Just by seeing that, I know right off the bat where –

"Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career," a male voice proclaimed through the speakers. I winced at the loud voice as I press down on my left tragus with my index and middle fingers to cover my ear canal. "Whether you're approached by a job fair, read our ad in Screws, Bolts, and Hairpins, or this is the result of a dare, we welcome you. I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I'm a Model 5 of the Handyman's Robotics and Unit Repair System, but you can call me HandUnit. Your new career promises new challenge, intrigue, and endless janitorial opportunities." From what I've seen, being a janitor appears to be a thankless job, but without 'em, we'd be living in our filth. Thank them for preventing that mess.

A yellow keypad with cartoon eyes and a glitchy screen featuring the keypad pops up from the floor as HandUnit instructed, "Please enter your name as seen above the keypad." Strangely enough, the white strip of paper, which is supposed to say _MIKE_ , is missing. I already know that the keypad is missing the letter _B_ , but probably because this is a faulty, experimental model of HandUnit, which might explain a few things about _Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location_ and _Help Wanted_. HandUnit goes on, "This cannot be changed later, so please be careful." Alright, let's see here.... Um, okay, uhhh ... D ... A ... N.... Ugh, this screen is making me dizzy. Okay, um, N.... Where the hell is that – oh, wait, there it is – Y ... R ... P ... G.... _Aaaaand_ , enter.

The screen's buttons changed into _error_ as HandUnit said, "It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad."

Oh, shit.

"I see what you were trying to type and I will autocorrect it for you. One moment."

Here we go....

"Welcome ... Danny RPG."

" _¡Tome,_ Mike Afton _!"_ I exclaimed as I pumped my fist proudly. The keypad disappears and a buzzer is heard. I remain quiet in the next minute. I could see some blurry yellow lines through the windows and the elevator stops with a shaky, metallic _thud_. A cheesy jingle plays as the words _NIGHT 1_ somehow flash in my head. Actually this is the least worst jingle I heard, since I'm lightly tapping my foot along with it. The jingle ends, the lights go out, and HandUnit starts talking again. "You can now open the elevator using that bright, red, and obvious button. Let's get to work!" I push the obvious button and the elevator doors slide open. The yellow lines turn out to be brightly-colored yellow strips of barricade tape saying _DANGER_ that are supposed to block access to a room in front of me, which can be entered through the air vent below. Even as a teenager, the vent is larger than the average vent I've seen in the past, but probably a bit uncomfortable for someone like Mike Afton. I glitch into my Basic form, the cat-sized dragon from Chapter 1 of my story in Wattpad, and proceed to enter the vent.

As I'm walking on all four limbs in the darkness, HandUnit starts talking again. "Allow me to fill this somewhat frightening silence with some lighthearted banter. Due to the massive success and even more so the unfortunate closing of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, it was clear the stage is all set – no pun intended – for another contender in children's entertainment. Unlike most entertainment venues, our robotic entertainers are rented out for private parties during the day," – I see some dim lighting at the end of the tunnel and step out into the room ahead – "and it's your job to get the robots back in proper working order before the following morning.

"You are now in the primary control module. It's actually a crawlspace between the two front showrooms. Now, let's get started with your daily tasks."

I turn back into my human form. The crawl space has a grey, cold metallic floor, with different cables, wires, and parts here and there on the floor and on the walls. There are two huge windows on the left wall and two more on the right. Over the vent in the wall in front of me is a giant fan spinning behind a metal grid that is intended to prevent any unfavorable incidents if you get what I mean. There is a drawer on the left and one on the right against that wall. On top of the left drawer are three, non-sentient, human-like animatronic heads blinking randomly. Despite their simplistic and generic appearance, they kinda creep me out (no offense intended, Scott Cawthon; I love your work, by the way!). On top of the right drawer is another animatronic head, but with a different model. It's probably likely that they're unused or scrapped animatronic parts. Against that wall on the left side of the fan and behind a few cables is a clock with Circus Baby's face on it, which doesn't seem to be working as its two hands are motionless. Overhead are some screens which are showing nothing but static, which I don't know what they're used for but two of them are directly above the fan and a clown animatronic mask is placed between them. _It's not missing_ , I thought, _that's good news, because it means that Ennard isn't here yet. But what about – ?_

"View the window to your left," HandUnit said. "This is the Ballora Gallery Party Room and Dance Studio, encouraging kids to get fit and enjoy pizza. Let's turn on the light and see if Ballora is onstage. Press the blue button on the elevator on you your left." I remarked, "Pizza and getting fit? That doesn't contradict itself at all."

There are two elevated keypads with two buttons; one keypad for Ballora's stage, and the other for the stage on the right. The top one is a blue button with an icon meaning light, and the one below is a red button with a typical symbol of a lightning bolt.

I press and hold the blue button; as it emits a buzzing sound the stage light in Ballora's room turn on. As I expected, the metal round stage with pink curtains is empty. The next part, which is pretty self-explanatory to any of us _FNaF_ fans out there, is what worries me, but definitely not as much as Night 5. "Uh-oh," HandUnit stated in the same "reassuring" tone as always, "it looks like Ballora doesn't feel like dancing. Let's give her some motivation. Press the red button now to administer a controlled shock. Maybe that will put a spring back in her step." I hate doing this. I look at the button and hesitantly press it. An unpleasant electrical shock is heard loudly from the room. My stomach lurches slightly and a feeling of guilt and unsettlement weighs in my heart. I wonder if the animatronics getting electrocuted us part of the reason why they want to kill Mike. I mean, besides the fact that William and/or Michael "Mike" Afton murdered about five children within the 80's, according to the franchise's lore and The Game Theorists. Though, considering I'm here instead of Mike, that doesn't seem to be the case right now.

"Let's check on the light again," HandUnit added. Then again, maybe the animatronics are hostile regardless and HandUnit is as unhelpful as always. I press and hold the blue button again. Ballora and at least five of her Minireenas are twirling in place in a somewhat mesmerizing way. I quickly let go of the light and HandUnit goes on, "Excellent. Ballora is feeling like her old self again and will be ready to perform again tomorrow. Now, view the window to your right." – I walk to the keypad on the right and look at the windows – "This is the Funtime Auditorium, where Funtime Foxy encourages kids to play and share. Let's see what Funtime is up to. Try the light. Let's see what Funtime Foxy is up to."

I press the blue button, turning the light in Funtime Foxy's stage on. Only to be turned off as soon as I let go. Just like with Ballora's stage, Funtime Foxy's stage is empty.

"Looks like Funtime Foxy is taking the day off. Let's motivate Funtime Foxy with a controlled shock."

"Dammit," I mumbled. I electrocute him by pressing the red button. I flinch at the sound of the animatronic being electrocuted loudly. I press the blue button again; the stage is still empty.

"Let's try another controlled shock."

"Fuck you," I uttered almost inaudibly. Those shocks are really damn noisy. Still, I do what HandUnit said. If I didn't, how am I going to progress in this story? When I turn the light on again, a white and pink anthropomorphic fox robot is moving its upper body while standing stationary on the stage. The vent shaft under the fan opens abruptly.

"Looks like Funtime Foxy is in perfect working order, great job!," HandUnit said. "In front of you is another vent shaft. Crawl through it to reach the Circus Gallery Control Module." I turn the light off and glitch into my Basic form. I walk cautiously into the shaft that is currently open. The air vent appears to be the same as the one to elevator, except it leads to a control module for Circus Baby. Oh, yeah, that reminds me. When the vent shaft was closed, its metal barrier blocking access to it reads _DANGER_ , like those barricade tapes from earlier. The same applies to the other vent shafts in the Primary Control Module.

In my human form, the darkness would've made me nervous. However, in my dragon form, I'm somehow capable of literally seeing in the dark (with the result of my irises glowing), which is kinda reassuring because I'd be able to see what's ahead. Though, not very helpful when I'm on relying on stealth to take down an enemy – they might not see me, but they'll definitely see my eyes in this form. A female automated voice suddenly uttered, "Motion trigger – Circus Gallery vent." Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.

I enter the Circus Gallery Control Module turn back into my Standard form. It's a small dark room with a desk that is the control panel. On top of it is a figurine of what appears to be a cartoon creepy-eyed humanoid monkey in a magician's outfit. There are three windows, one for each wall except for the one behind me. The left wall under the window has some neatly placed helium tanks and a few thin cables hanging from the ceiling in the corner between the front and the left sides of the room. The front wall has the control panel, the weird figurine, and a marionette that looks like Balloon Boy hanging from one of the lights near the ceiling. On the right is another elevated keypad, more cables, a smaller fan behind the metal grid, some metal pipe attached to the floor and the wall behind me, and on the corner of the right window is another poster of Circus Baby and her Bidybabs exactly like the one in the elevator. Above the window are four lights, each with a different color which are: light blue, green, pink, and orange (from left to right).

HandUnit instructed, "On the other side of the glass is Circus Baby's auditorium. Let's check the light and see what Baby is up to."

I glitch into my Basic form and stand on the control panel and pressed against the window to see what's in there. It looks like a party room with some tables and a stage. The female computer voice said, "Glass pressure trigger – please do not push against the glass." I immediately jump off the control panel and glitch into my Standard form midair. "Sorry," I replied. I press the blue button on the keypad. Interestingly, even with the light on, I can't see anything worth beans in there except an empty stage.

"It looks like a few of the lights are out, but we can fix that later. Let's encourage Baby to cheer up with a controlled shock."

I halfheartedly electrocute the animatronic and check the light again.

"Let's try another controlled shock."

Same thing as before – at this point I'm getting used to that sound of a controlled shock. Only, when turn the light on this time, Baby is dancing onstage with the Bidybabs. I've never seen that before. It's pretty cool, actually. I turn the light off as HandUnit praised in the same tone of voice as always, "Great job, Circus Baby, we knew we could count on you!"

"Yep," I agreed matter-of-factly.

"That concludes your duties at your first night on the job. We don't want you to leave overwhelmed, otherwise you might not come back. Please leave using the vent behind you, and we'll see you again tomorrow.

I turn back into a dragon and run through the vent. I hear the vent door behind me close as the female computer voice said, "Motion trigger – Circus Gallery vent." I've only been here for six minutes and I already want out. I end up in a black void with the multicolored message _SHIFT COMPLETE! Enjoy some time at home!_ appear in front of me. A cheery 80's tune plays as some small fireworks burst near the message. Everything shifts into the elevator from before. At least I don't have to watch _The Immortal and the Restless_ from the game. Soap operas and drama are rarely things that I like to watch.

HandUnit announced, "Welcome back for another night of intellectual stimulation, pivotal career choices, and self-reflection on past mistakes. We're committed to creating a unique and fulfilling work experience. One part of the commitment is that you don't get tired of the voice you're hearing right now." Thank goodness I get to change the voice for now. The keypad appears as HandUnit directed, "Using the keypad below, please select a companion voice. For male, press one. For female press two. For text-press three. For other options press four" Exactly how am I going to do that with a glitchy screen and a lack of numbers? Oy ... maybe I can type it out. T ... H ... R ... E ... E ... enter. Inevitably, the screen's keypad turned into _error_ and HandUnit stated, "It seems you have trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will autocorrect it for you. Thank you for choosing ... Angsty Teen." I uttered, "Some things never change. And that's coming from an angsty teen." At least it's still a different voice. A few seconds later and I'm hearing some faint sounds of metallic banging. As if it isn't out of the ordinary; these animatronics are always up to something. Especially Ennard. A metallic _thud_ occurs, and the jingle plays as _NIGHT 2_ flashes in my head.

"The elevator stopped," The "angsty" A.I. stated flatly. "You know the routine. You can get out now or ... whatever. You can stay here if you want." Wow. Just ... wow. Maybe I should've selected four so I can pick an anime voice; that last sentence reminds of how Pastel de Nata talks.

When the elevator stops, HandUnit rambled, "So ... funny story, a dead body was found in the vent once. Okay ... so ... not that funny, but it's a story." I enter the room. The A.I. said, "Okay, let's start with your nightly chores. You should check on the Ballora and make sure she's on her stage, but whatever." I turn on the – holy shit! Why is her shadow is so big?! I immediately turn it off as I got startled by Ballora's oversized shadow that was cast on her stage. HandUnit commented, "I guess Ballora has better things to do. Let's zap her." There was a bit of enthusiasm in his voice. Continuously staring where the stage is, I nervously push the red button without even glancing at it.

Immediately after the shock, HandUnit speaks in an unclear garbled voice. From what I remember hearing in the fandom, he said something like "Elevation, passive, heights, regulative, standards." in reverse. A few seconds later, the bored teen voice got back to normal. "Let's check on Funtime Foxy. Make sure he's ready for showtime tomorrow." With the light on, Foxy's shadow casts massively on the stage. I'm not as startled as before, but it's still making me agitated. An even deeper, garbled voice says "Great!" repeatedly for four times. Then, HandUnit starts talking in his regular voice again. "There seems to have been a problem with the voice synthesizer. Default settings have been restored. Please proceed to through the vent to Circus Baby's auditorium."

I go through the vent in my Basic form.

"Motion trigger – Circus Gallery vent."

"Circus Baby had a busy day today," HandUnit said. "Let's check the light and make sure she's in proper working order." Unsurprisingly, the stage is empty as I press the blue button. HandUnit added, "Oh, Circus Baby. We aren't here to play and seek" – ("Actually, we are," I muttered under my breath) – "Let's encourage Baby to come out of hiding with a controlled shock." Alas, the button doesn't work.

"There seems to be a power malfunction that is affecting our ability to properly motivate Baby." – ( _I wouldn't call that motivation,_ I thought.) – "Please stand by while I reboot the system. I will be offline momentarily during this process. Various other systems may be offline as well, such as security doors, vent locks, and oxygen. Commencing system restart" Everything around shuts down. It's awfully dark in here, but I'm glad I'm not afraid of the dark. Despite that, if there's going to be a shortage of oxygen, I better be careful not to use my fire, and I should avoid the Bidybabs too. They'll obviously check the hiding spot under the desk, so I must pick someplace else. I look up at the ceiling and notice the large amount of cable and small pipes overhead. It's an excellent hiding spot for my Basic form, and it's out of the Bidybabs' reach.

"Motion trigger," the female computer voice said, "Entryway vent."

 _Kuso!_ I thought. _I need to hide_ now _!_ Before I turn into dragon, I spot a keycard in the hiding space. I grab it, put it in my Inventory, and put an old metal sheet with holes in it to conceal the hiding place under the desk. I then glitch into my dragon form and quickly fly up to the ceiling and silently perch onto the metal pipes and cables above.

"Funtime Auditorium maintenance vent opened. Ballora Gallery maintenance vent opened."

"I don't recognize you," a new female voice said. _Was Baby supposed to say that?_ I thought. She went on, "You are new. I remember this ... scenario, however. It's a strange thing to want to do, to come here. I'm curious, what events would lead a person to want to spend their nights in a place like this...? Maybe curiosity, maybe ignorance, or maybe you were brought here unwillingly. There is a space under the desk. Someone before you crafted into a hiding – wait, where are you? Are you hiding already? If you're lucky, it'll work for you, just like it worked for him. Just try not to make eye contact. It will be over soon. They will lose interest." She's right, while they're not going to see me up here, they might still see my irises.

Hardly a few seconds later, something is walking through the vent. The duo of Bidybabs enter the control module. One of them, which has blue eyes, whispered, "Some is inside. We always find a way inside." The second Bidybab, which has purple eyes, asked softly, "Is this the same person?" One of them taps the sheet in search of a response from inside. The blue-eyed Bidybab said, "Knock-knock~" _Who's there?_ I wondered. The animatronics drag the metal sheet to reveal the hiding space. The second Bidybab exclaimed in a still hushed voice, "There's no one here!" The first one asked, "Where could they be?" The one with blue eyes gasped quietly, "She's watching us. We have to leave now." The other told me while looking at her surroundings, "We will see you again soon~" They quickly leave the room.

The place stays quiet for a for a few tense seconds. "When your 'guide'" – I almost jump from getting startled by Baby's voice – "comes back online, he is going to tell you that he is unsuccessful, that you must restart the system manually. He will then tell you to crawl through Ballora Gallery as fast as you can to reach the breaker room. If you follow his instructions, you will die. Ballora will not return to her stage anymore. She will catch you.

"The power will be restored shortly. When you go to Ballora Gallery, go slowly. She cannot see you, and can only listen for your movement. When you hear her music become louder, she is growing near, listening for you. Wait and be still." There was a short buzz of static and HandUnit starts talking again. I fly to the cold floor and listen to what he says. "Thank you for your patience. It seems that the power system cannot be restarted automatically. You will need to restart the power system manually. Please return to the Primary Control Module." I move back to the primary control module and approach the blocked vent to Ballora Gallery Party Room and Dance Studio. Fast-forward here, since we know what happens next: "Blah, blah, blah, Ballora Gallery, etcetera, get to the Breaker Room, yadah yadah, move fast and don't disturb her." – whoop, normal speed here, hang on – "I will deactivate myself momentarily as to not create an auditory disturbance. Deactivating." The vent door opens and I walk through it, still in my dragon form. The computer voice said as I go through the vent, "Ballora Gallery – Maintenance vent opened."

Rather than doing what Circus Baby said, I think about moving quickly to the Breaker Room. Bifty taught me about a week ago how to fly stealthily, so on one paw I might have a chance of getting through this. On the other hand it's also advisable just sneak through the room as a human. I look at Ballora; she's humming a song while dancing like a graceful ballerina as she moves around in the Gallery. At the other end of the room, there is a door leading to the Breaker Room, with a small open window above it frame. Oh, no, wait, that's just a dim light that keeps flickering. Still, flap my wings as quietly as possible and fly through the room about two feet above the ground. I land quietly in front of the door. Ballora's music box grows louder. I hide behind one of the large pipes next to the door. As _Crumbling Dreams_ plays from her music box, I peek at Ballora twirling past the area I went through. She starts singing eerily:

_"All I do is dance alone,_

_"But now I hear your flesh and bone._

_"I roam these halls alone all day,_

_"But now you're here, friend and prey._

_"Why do you hide inside your walls,_

_"When there is music in my halls?_

_"All I see is an empty room,_

_"No more joy, an empty tomb,_

_"It's so good to sing all day,_

_"To dance, to spin, to fly away."_

Then, she asked herself out loud, "Is someone there? Is it time for the show? I can hear something or someone creeping through the room. Almost like flying.... Perhaps not." I glitch into my human form and enter the Breaker Room immediately, but still stealthily. The computer voice said, "Motion trigger – Breaker Room." I use my high-tech glasses to see what's in here. The floor has a reflective surface. There are metal wires and cables hanging everywhere from above, and some pipes here and there. There is a poster of Funtime Foxy on the left wall that reads _PARTY TIME!_. In the corner on the right, there is a pink and white animatronic bear with a top hat standing on a short pedestal. In his left hand is a microphone while on the right is a robotic hand puppet of a blue bunny with a red bowtie. Both robots are motionless for now. A couple feet away them is a circuit breaker next to a set of buttons. My glasses tell me that the danger level in this room is high.

HandUnit instructed, "You may now interface with the breaker control box. Using the interface may disrupt nearby electronics. If you feel like you are in danger, feel free to disconnect the interface temporarily, until it is safe to reconnect." I walk to the circuit breaker and open it. My glasses tell me that the danger level is extremely high; Funtime Freddy is very close. I find out there is a cassette player with a tape inside. I push the play button and a voice clip from Bon-Bon plays. Bon-Bon told Funtime Freddy, "Go back to you stage, everything is okay." I imitated Bon-Bon's voice, "The technician wouldn't mess with the circuit breaker if they didn't have to. I hope you forgive them." Funtime Freddy replied, "But, Bon-Bon, it's making me agitated for some reason." "Fine," I grumbled under my breath. I use the cassette player again. Bon-Bon's voice said, "You must be hearing this, silly!~ Hahahah! Everything is okay, let's go back to sleep." My glasses say the danger level is low. I use the interface again and restore the power to the Circus Control Module. After restoring the power of the entire place while persistently using the cassette player to calm Funtime Freddy down, HandUnit complimented, "Great job. This completes your tasks for the night. Please proceed back through the Ballora Gallery with care, and we'll see you back here tomorrow." I enter the Gallery and turn into a dragon. Ballora asked, "Is someone there?"

I quickly but quietly fly across the room.

"I can hear the same someone creeping through my room again. Who are you?"

As soon as I get near the vent, everything shifts to that void from before with the same words and fireworks as before, along with that 80's tune. After the brief celebration, I end up back in the elevator. HandUnit greeted, "Welcome back to the pivotal night of your exciting new career, where you get to ask yourself, 'What am I doing with my life?'" – more like "What the hell am I doing here?" – "'What would my friends say?', and most importantly, 'Will I ever see my family again?' We understand the stresses of a new job" – and yet, they deny being responsible for death, dismemberment, and possessed, sociopathic animatronics – "and we're for you. To help you reach a more stable and relaxing frame of mind, we offer you several musical selections to make this elevator ride as relaxing and therapeutic as possible. We offer contemporary jazz, classical, rainforest ambiance, as well as a wide selection of other choices. Using the keypad below, please type the first few letters of the musical selection you would prefer." I type my selection, but it changes to _error_. HandUnit said, "It seems you have trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will autocorrect it for you. Thank you for choosing ... _Mazinger Z_." The theme song starts playing. He went on, "Now that your elevator music is customized to your needs and you're thoroughly relaxed, please enjoy the rest of your descent." The song is so catchy I start singing along:

_"Tobase tekken! Roketto Panchi_

_"Ima da dasun da Buresto Faiyaa_

_"Mazin Go! Mazin Go!_

_"Mazinga Z!"_

The song repeats itself again until the ride ends with a _thud_. The jingle plays as _NIGHT 3_ appears in my head until the jingle ends. I walk through the vents in my dragon form. HandUnit noted, "Due to unforeseen malfunctions from today's shows, your nightly duties will require you to perform maintenance that may or may not be skilled enough to perform, it became necessary for technicians to attempt to disconnect Funtime Freddy's power module. However, they were unsuccessful. Allowing them to try again would be inefficient path forward as we would need to allow six to eight weeks of recovery and physical therapy.

"You will need to reach the parts and service room on the other side of Funtime Auditorium to perform the procedure yourself. Let's check on Ballora first." I turn the li – Jesus Christ! What the hell is going on over there now?! I immediately turn it off. The light revealed what looked like the Minireenas are tearing apart Ballora, but the light made them stand still, making them look like an unsettling work of modern art.

HandUnit affirmed, "Great, it looks like everything is as it should be in Ballora Gallery. Let's check on Funtime Foxy; it's important to make sure she's on her stage before entering."

Of course, the stage is empty. Where in the room is she now?

"Great, it looks like everything is as it should be in the Funtime Auditorium. There is no need to check on Baby tonight. Please refrain from entering unauthorized areas. Please enter the vent to Funtime Auditorium." Regardless, the vents for Circus Gallery and Funtime Auditorium are open. Since I know Baby's story, I enter the vent to Funtime Auditorium. The female computer voice said, "Funtime Auditorium – Maintenance vent opened." The whole time, I've been in my dragon form except for when I turned the lights on and off. I take advantage of this to see in the dark and to know where Funtime Foxy is. HandUnit added, "Unlike Ballora, Funtime Foxy is motion activated. For this reason, it's important to keep the room dark, as to not accidentally activate her. You have been provided with a flash beacon. Use it if you need to get your bearings and to ensure you don't bump into anything. However, use it as sparingly as possible. Proceed forward to reach the Parts and Service room."

The room has a black and white checkerboard floor with some broad red tiles here and there, much like in _FNaF VR: Help Wanted_. There are some tables here and there like Ballora Gallery. On the other end is the door to the Parts and Service Room, the door on my left leads to the Private Room and the door in my right leads to the notorious Scooping Room. It's a good thing I have the keycard; I refuse to be disemboweled. Funtime Foxy is in the near center of the room.

She is twitching and convulsing as she looks at me in a position like she is about to get me. I hear a faint familiar beep, which sounded like the kind of alert that you'd get from an urgent message that is broadcasting and suddenly interrupts your favorite TV show, or perhaps an alert on your phone indicating a storm or tornado warning. The sound came from the far left near the door to the Private Room. I asked myself, _What in Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental is Lolbit doing there?_ If it's here, then I should be careful not to step on the red tiles. Funtime Foxy comes closer and is about to jumpscare me. I stretch my wings and fly, performing a barrel roll around her as she lets out a deafening, bloodcurdling scream. Her jumpscare missed, and Lolbit somehow ends up on my right. It's on my one and Funtime Foxy is on my six. I land under the one of the tables. Lolbit walks past it, oblivious that I'm hiding under there. I silently come out and glitch into my Standard form and stealthily and slowly make my way to the Parts and Service room.

"Great job reaching Parts and Service! It seems that Funtime Freddy is out of power, which should make your job much easier. The release switch for the chest cavity is located on the underside of the endoskeleton jaw. To reach it, we will first need to open the face-plates. You will need to press the face-plate release triggers in a specific order, and it's important to be as precise and as careful as possible. Locate the small button on Freddy's face, just under his right cheek, and press it. Next, locate the small button on his left and press it."

With the help of my high-tech glasses, I press the button.

"For clarification, please note that I'm referring to Freddy's right, not your right." So, my left, his right, got it. This time, I press the small grey button under Funtime Freddy's pink cheek on my left, then the one on my right.

"Great! Now carefully press the button on Freddy's right eye."

If I had a flashlight, it'd be hard to find the tiny button through all the shine on Freddy's face. Fortunately, the lenses of my glasses highlight the outlines of the character and the small buttons on his face and chest cavity.

"Great! Now carefully locate and press the button just above Freddy's nose."

No, I'm not gonna press his nose. It's very unlikely it'll make that honking sound we all like. Plus I'll get jumpscared to death by him and Bon-Bon. I press the small button as HandUnit instructed. G'aah! Son of a bitch, I forgot about that! The moment I pressed the button, his face plates immediately open, letting out a loud hissing sound as though some kind of pressure in a pipe is released. His endoskeleton face is much flatter with the muzzle and jaw being less wider than the "suit" head itself. There is also a grey circle printed on the middle of the endoskeleton chest, which includes the power module. I get instructed by the somewhat unhelpful A.I. to press the miniature button on the underside of Freddy's jaw, which his chest cavity is open with a loud hiss similar to when I opened his face plates. I remove the power module from the chest cavity (as HandUnit instructed) and put it into my Inventory.

"Great work" HandUnit acclaimed, "You will now be required to remove the secondary power module from the Bonnie hand-puppet. Press the large black button beneath Bonnie's bowtie to release the power module." Immediately, Bon-Bon's hops off Funtime Freddy's right arm and somehow scurries behind Freddy's head. As soon as I see it, Bon-Bon retreats to below Freddy's left arm. It's preparing to strike me jumpscare as its face starts showing. I hold my ground wait for it show its bowtie and the black button without directly making eye contact. Bon-Bon retreats and it jumpscares me. However, at the same time, I step forth and immediately catch it like a viper or a cat. With its scream, Bon-Bon tries to wrestle my hands free. Boy, that son of a bitch is strong! Before it successfully slips from my grasp, I forcefully push the large black button under its bowtie (or rather, punched it) and the power module falls. I stick the motionless blue bunny to the pink and white bear animatronic's right arm where his hand should be. HandUnit said, "Great job. You acquired both power modules. This completes your tasks for the night. Please exit the building through Funtime Auditorium and we'll see you back here again tomorrow.

I re-enter Funtime Auditorium. Foxy and Lolbit aren't anywhere in sight, even with the glasses. Halfway through the room, I hear Funtime Foxy's runs behind me, Lolbit runs to my side and Foxy jumpscares me. Her face plates open and lets out a bloodcurdling scream. It's an ambush! My scythe glitches into existence from my Inventory and I swing to her side. Funtime Foxy is knocked to the ground, but because of the blade's weight, I couldn't swing it again on time and Lolbit knocks me out with a punch on my stomach.

When I came to, my torso hurts terribly, my glasses are cracked (but they still work), and I can taste something like iron inside my mouth and roughly on my bottom lip. It's my blood, judging by the taste. It's dry and sticky, though. I realize that I'm in some cramped space and I can see through three holes and some lines between the holes, which form a face like the animatronics with face plates. Oh ... _hell, no_! I'm inside an animatronic suit! And what's worse is that this is a springlock suit! If the locks of this very old suit go off, I'll die a slow, horrible, painful death! And death by a springlock suit is one of the worst ways to die! _The Silver Eyes_ and _FNaF3_ proves it! "Shh," Circus Baby's voice softly began, "be still and quiet. You've been sleeping for quite a while. I was disappointed you didn't visit me last night. I thought you'd be curious to hear my story. But that look on your face ... you look as though you know it. You're not an ordinary person. The way you change shape and back ... who are you? Well, no matter. I think they noticed that you never left the building last night. The cameras were searching for you, but they couldn't find you. I have you hidden too well." Ennard, you sick, vengeful, sadistic, wretch. She whispered, "I kidnapped you."

The cheesy jingle plays in my head as _NIGHT 4_ makes an appearance. _Will you shut the hell up?!_ The moment I narrated that, the jingle ends right away with an abrupt record needle scratch. I wouldn't say there's exactly silence. The room is very dark, even with my glasses, and the ambiance is unsettling. Still I keep my breath as minimal as possible and I try very hard not to sweat despite being nervous because of the hypersensitive springlocks. Through the mask, I can see a red light on the right blinking repeatedly. Baby added, "Try not to wiggle. You're inside something that came from my old pizzeria. But I guess you know that too. I can see it in your eyes." Yeah, it wasn't used in the way it's meant to because it's too dangerous.

"Do you know that you're in the Scooping Room?" Baby asked. "This is where they use they use the Scooper. I thought it would be obvious. Isn't that a fun name for something? It sounds like something you would use for ice cream, or custard or sprinkles. It sounds like something you would want on your birthday party. To ensure that you get a heaping portion of every good thing. I wonder, though, if you were a freshly-opened pint of ice cream, how would you feel with something with that name? Thankfully, I don't think a freshly-opened pint of ice cream feels anything at all. Uh-oh, someone else is in the building." I have to be quick. Ennard will open the faceplates and the Minireenas will try to attack me and prevent me from interacting with the pins that hold the springlocks in place. I gather up my energy while being careful not to let the heat trigger the springlocks.

A door opens and a male voice said, "Okay, bring her over. Forward. More. Moooore. Okay, stop. Set her down. Watch the step." A second male voice asked, "What happened to it this time?"

"Just seems these things can't go a day without breaking down. Who knows, it's always the same, man, some kind of hardware malfunction."

"Well, hey, I have to be somewhere in fifteen minutes. This place gives me the creeps. Can we just get this over with? It's all automated. We don't have to be here for it. Just get her on some rollers. Then we can go."

The two maintenance men leave the room. I hear a loud mechanical whirring, along with something metallic clanging, banging, rattling. Ballora is being taken to the room I'm in by the conveyor in the ceiling. I can tell by the sight of her head that I'm dangerously close to her. However, her eyes are closed, so I don't think she'll attack me. The mechanical noises stop abruptly with a thud. Circus Baby's voice (or should I say, Ennard's) tells me in a devious tone, "There's something very important I've learned how to do over time. Do you know what that is? How to pretend. Do you ever play make believe? Pretend one way, when really you are the other.... It's very important, dragon. Ballora never learns. But I do. They think there is something wrong, on the inside. The only thing that matters is how." – its voice becomes more and more hushed – "To. Pretend."

There are four industrial beeps blaring from the speakers as some kind of warning. A giant robotic claw strikes Ballora repeatedly until she is completely "scooped out." Now you know why they call it the Scooper. During the times Ballora is hit by the Scooper, her animatronic body shakes from the force of the machine, and I can barely see her endoskeleton. After three hits, Ballora goes limp and her face stares at me with pink, open endoskeleton eyes which the irises flicker with from the dim lights inside. A strong explosive burst is released from me, freeing me from the suit as my dragon wings and tail appear. The pieces of the suit scatter everywhere like a grenade that just detonated. A series of snaps are heard from the animatronic parts that were once held back by the springlocks. The snaps and clangs make noises like faulty, broken fireworks. Some metal parts snap violently here and there. I dash out of there through the door as the Minireenas slowly and creepily start emerging from the inside of Ballora.

I slam it shut and scan my surroundings. The two men approach me with alarmed looks as they heard my explosion. They are each carrying a flashlight to navigate through the dark. I declared, "We need to leave _now_." The first man asked, "Who are you?" I replied, "Let's just say I'm a girl who's in the wrong place at the wrong time, and has a tendency to be too smart and honest for her own good. Anyway, we have to keep moving!" The second man asked, "What is going on?" I answered impatiently, "There's no time to explain! Those Minireenas might get out of the room at any minute. So let's go! C'mon!" The two men hesitated, but decide to follow me anyway. I escort them to the vent to the Primary Control Module. I follow along to the vent to elevator, determined to make sure the Minireenas and Ennard aren't there. We enter the elevator as hastily as possible. My wings and tail dematerialize and everything transitions to the void. I'm no longer with the two maintenance men. The words _SHIFT COMPLETE_ appear. Small fireworks burst as the 80's tune plays. After the brief celebration is over, I'm back in the elevator, descending back into Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental.

HandUnit starts speaking, "Welcome back to your last day on the job. That is, the last day of your first week. Despite your unorthodox behavior, you saved two technicians from certain death last night, and they are safe at home after they quit their jobs. Give yourself a pat on the back and consider yourself a hero. Some of the most valued qualities we like to see in new employees are determination, fearlessness, and a genuine disregard for instinctive self-preservation. You've earned your one-week bonus which will be given to you in the form of a delightful gift basket, the cost of which will be taken out of your next paycheck. We've gift baskets containing fruit, nuts, flowers, and of course the ever-popular cash basket.

"Using the keypad below, please enter the first few letters of the gift basket you'd like to receive." I choose the fruit basket. Despite that, the letters change into _error_ and HandUnit replied, "It seems you have trouble with the keypad." – I know where this leads to – "I see what you were trying to type, and I will autocorrect it for you. Thank you for selecting ... Exotic Butters." I wheeze into a genuinely amused laugh, "Well, it doesn't matter what basket I get because it's coming out of my goddamn paycheck!"

When the elevator ride ends with a _thud_ , the jingle plays again and _NIGHT 5_ appears in my head briefly. I push the red button and enter the vent. HandUnit says nothing this time, but the computerized female said, "Motion trigger – Entryway vent." Upon entering the Primary Control Module, the clown mask from the first night is replaced by Lolbit's face. Was that meant to be an Easter egg from _FNaF World_? It's still odd that Lolbit made an appearance here anyway. HandUnit said, "Let's check on Ballora and make sure she's on her stage. I turn the light on; the stage is empty. Otherwise, there'd be the shadow of one of the maintenance men hanging lifelessly against their will. Same with Funtime Foxy's stage. HandUnit added, "Great. Now let's check on Funtime Foxy." – as expected, the stage is empty too – "Great! It looks like everything is as it should be in Funtime Auditorium. Your task today will involve more maintenance work. Circus Baby had a rough day, and is in need of repair. You will be required to reach the Parts and Service room by once again sneaking through Funtime Auditorium. As always, please proceed with caution." You don't have to tell me twice; after last night, things might and most likely will get unpredictable tonight. I hope the keycard I got will give me access to the Private Room. The vent door opens, I glitch into my Basic form, and walk through the vent. Since the room is empty, I walk through in my Standard form and enter the Parts and Service room.

The female computer voice said, "Motion trigger – Parts and Service." Baby is limply suspended by the conveyor overhead. Her endoskeleton is shut down, and her eyes are invisible because of this. HandUnit explained, "Great job reaching Parts and Service. Circus Baby has been deactivated for an unknown reason. It's your job to make sure she is structurally stable and secure to the conveyor." He is abruptly cut off by the sound of static. My glasses reveal that Ennard is hidden in the background behind Baby, but I pretend that I didn't notice that. I don't think Ennard is suspicious of that yet. My lenses read _Circus Baby Status: Deactivated_ and _Entity detected. Status: Hostile_. Ennard began in Baby's voice through the speakers overhead, "Can you hear me? I'm pretending; remember I how I said I could pretend? The cameras are watching. I must be careful not to move. Something bad happened yesterday; something bad always happens. I don't want it to happen again. There is something bad, inside of me. I'm broken...." – I'm tempted to sympathise with Circus Baby, but I remind myself that that's Ennard speaking, and not the actual Baby – "I can't be fixed. I'm going to be taken to the Scooping room soon. Then again, you know that something is up – I can see it in your eyes, even if you're trying to pretend. I advise you'd be careful. Make any mistake and you'll face unwanted results. I wonder how you equip your weapon after seeing face Funtime Foxy. You dealt a heavy blow onto her, but I saw that you struggled with the weight and momentum of your scythe. You wouldn't want me to attack you after that happens, do you?" I replied, "Yeah, don't remind me. What do I need to do to Circus Baby?" "No need to be so threatened," Ennard answered. "I'm not an enemy. I just want to leave, so I can roam freely out of this cold prison. If you were trapped in here for so long, you would understand what that's like."

"Oh, well why you didn't say so? I know a few people who feel like that."

"Is that so? There is a button on Baby's cheek," Ennard replied. "You must find it and press it." My glasses highlight the location of the button while revealing the outlines of Baby and Ennard. I press and a hatch opens from the side of Circus Baby's head. It's a small grey keypad. Ennard commented, "I wonder if you know the passcode." I answered flatly, "I don't remember." Ennard replied, "So be it, dragon. Enter the passcode carefully –" Before Ennard could finish, I gun it to the door to the Private room. As I'm running, Ennard lets out a shrill, bloodcurdling scream. I use the keycard and put it onto the scanner. Fortuitously, the female computer voice said, "Access granted." I step inside, and the door behind closes and automatically locks itself from in here. HandUnit uttered, "It seems that you have accidentally wandered into a restricted area. Due to the sensitive nature of the materials that you may be exposed to here, you will not be allowed to leave until the clean-up crew arrives at 6 am. So hang tight. Rest assured that you will be promptly rescued, fired, and sent home. Thank you for being an employee. We hope your experience has not been as regrettable as ours."

Even though it's six hours in the game, it's seven minutes and thirty seconds in reality. According to Markiplier in his playthrough of _Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location_ , the main factor in the game is listening to auditory cues. There'd be noises that signify if Ennard has changed locations. And the locations are right, center and left. If he makes a noise in one of those specific areas, it doesn't mean it's at the door or vent shaft, it just means that it's moved over to that part of the pizzeria. Only if it's makes a second noise in that same place, then I pay more attention to the door in that direction. Although I'm not that experienced with these official _FNaF_ games (except for _Freddy in Space 2_ and the others that are free to play), I've gained some experience by watching YouTube and playing fangames such as _Popgoes_ , _Five Nights at Candy's_ , and _The Joy of Creation_. I remember the rest of what Mark said and decide to stick with it. I also peek out from the door and into the vent to check if Ennard is there. The time has passed, I nearly run out of power, and everything shifts into that void with those same words, tune, and fireworks.

I wake up suddenly and realize that I was dreaming. I'm in my bedroom, which is the attic of the restaurant and home of Master Attendant Samson and his Food Souls. The whole time, I've been lying on my bed (which is nothing more than a covered mattress and some really cozy blankets and a comfy pillow) until I woke up just now. Despite the crazy shit that happened in my subconscious and during that fight in Light Kingdom, I feel very well rested. Interestingly enough, I look to my right and see the gift basket of exotic butters from _Sister Location_ sitting next to my bed. There is a note attached to attached to it, which reads _Thank you for being an employee. Fuck you._

I exclaimed, _"NANI?!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was from an entry I wrote for an art challenge by CyaneWorks called Weavember. This is for the fourth prompt (which is Baby). I also wrote for prompt three, which is Aurora. Because they're one-shots, they can be in any order. I intended to write for the ninth prompt (Candy), but since it's December, there's not much of a point to post it on Wattpad and DeviantArt. I'd still like to work on it, though (for fun). Also, the exception of the one-shots being in any order is prompt 9, because I intended it to continue after my story for prompt four. Also, sorry for the errors that were in the story.


	2. Aurora

**_I've been hiking along the_** mountain in Nevras for the last thirty minutes, trying to look for the road and trying to get away from those Fallen Angels. All alone, separated from my team. Sashimi (as the leader), Vodka, and Boston Lobster were tasked to deliver some food from the restaurant. As an excuse to kick Fallen Angel butt while seeing the world, I volunteered to join them while being careful not to get killed by Boston. Vodka and I had the dishes the patron ordered, and told us what the address is. (Surprisingly, Vodka stayed sober the whole time.) It's a cabin up a trail through the edge of a village north of the map of Nevras you'd see in the game. Since it's a two-day trip, my team and I agreed to check in at a local inn after the delivery. It was successful, but on the way back, we got a close encounter with a Disaster Fallen. I think its name was Minimata, or something, but we barely got outta there alive and I got separated from the others as a result of eloping from that thing. Son of a bitch, I haven't been this cold since my last ski trip to Wisconsin. Actually, it might be colder here, but it's nothing that I can't handle. I'm still wearing the clothes that I bought from a shop in the Metropolitan Coast, which are slightly damaged from the attack. I wonder if I can use my wings with the outfit.... I let my dragon wings and tail materialize, but not my weapons, and I take off from the ground. _"Fucking hell!"_ I exclaimed. "I could hardly feel my dragon features!"

I look around my surrounding. Just my luck; there is a small group of Fallen Angels wandering to where I was, which haven't noticed my presence yet. The majority of them are pretty manageable, but that Spectra might be some bad news. I fly away from them and scan the mountain from high above. It's late afternoon, but the sunlight reflecting off the snow still makes it bothersome to see very well. My high-tech glasses have been damaged from the escape from earlier today. Only one of the lenses are cracked, and it no longer functions properly, so I can't make the lenses darken without experiencing technical difficulties.

Man, the view from up here is breathtaking and spectacular. Being this high up, I feel like I'm on top of Tierra. The sun is currently on my right, meaning that east should be somewhere on my left. Southwest of here is a faint view of the ocean, and from what remember earlier this morning, the inn is directly south (maybe a few degrees east) of where I'm hovering. The last time I saw my team, I noticed they were using the same road we took to the village. Only, instead, it was in the opposite direction. I can also see the road from high up as well, and where the Minimata attacked us. Considering it takes a lot of energy to fly (more so with the air being thin due to altitude), I might use my energy in gliding. As I'm gliding down, following the road to the inn, my wings are getting significantly colder from the acceleration, and my face is starting to get numb. It's not my first time I could hardly feel my face; I've gone skiing before, after all.

 _Shit...._ It's getting too cold for my wings to handle. I'm covering a lot of ground from up here, but I need to land. I scan my surroundings rapidly. It doesn't look like there are any Fallens nearby. Just as I'm about to land, I see a bird flying by in the distance. It looks like an eagle or possibly an – "Wait," I asked myself out loud, "is that Andre? _Hey, Andre, over here!_ " The eagle's head turns and sees my face. He flies to where I'm hovering and circles around me as well. I went on, "That means Vodka is near. Do you know where she is?" Andre flies down from my left and I follow him. I don't think it'll hurt to fly a little bit longer. Roughly two minutes pass, and Andre lets out a cry. I look down and I could see the Food Souls I was with. A wave of relief fills me, forgetting that the exposed parts of my body are (if not already) getting numb from the frigid air. I can tell from their actions that they're discussing about something, but Vodka hears the sound of my and Andre's wings flapping and looks up. I faintly heard her exclaiming, "Andre has found Danny RPG! Look!"

The other two Food Souls cease their conversation and look up. I land on the snow in front of them and Andre gracefully lands on Vodka's shoulder. Sashimi is smiling with joy, and Boston is as disgruntled as usual. His expression turns slightly soft, but only momentarily, so I'm wondering if he's secretly glad that I'm back or if that was my imagination. Either way, he doesn't seem so interested in putting a bone-crushing pincer around my neck for now (an inside joke about the game's main story).

We continue the journey to the inn via the motor vehicle we rented from the Chef's Guild, which also got slightly damaged from the Fallen Angel attack. But unlike my glasses, it's still working. By the time we made it to town, the moon has already started rising and we're very exhausted. We rent a room that has two queen-sized bed and a small chair. Since it's only going to be a few hours of sleep, it'd be pointless to change into our pajamas (we didn't bother packing them anyway). Considering Boston and Sashimi love being in cold environment, Vodka turns up the AC up to nearly the max. I glitch into my dragon form (also called my "Basic form") and sleep besides Vodka.

Halfway through the night, I wake up to see a foreign blend of green, turquoise, blue, and periwinkle streams of lights from outside. As I sleepily open my eyes, I recognized immediately what they are. I look at the night sky through the window from the bed and I'm immediately entranced by the sight of an aurora illuminating the night. I've seen northern lights in videos and films, and I've seen a few photos of aurora australis, but to actually see one in person is different experience. And it's bizarre to see it in an anime world, it does make it more pleasantly vibrant. A few minutes later, I let out a yawn and remember how tired I've been from the Fallen Angel attack. I look at the aurora one last time and close my eyes, drifting back into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the third prompt for Weavember. In this one, the Master Attendant she lives with has the ones from _Anomaly Between Worlds_ including Vodka, Boston, and Sashimi.


	3. Candy (Five Nights at Candy's)

_**I groan painfully as I**_ wake up with a terrible headache. Where am I? I get up from the cold, hard floor, comprised of white tiles. It looks like I'm in an office of some kind, with a clock on the desk that reads _12:00 AM_. There is a door on each end of the room and a window in front of me. The desk in front of the window has a that computer displays a map of where I am along with a view of a dark room and on the other end of the desk is a black fan with its propellers spinning. Actually, it looks like it's being recorded, as if it is some live feed of a security camera. What is this place? I notice that beside each doorway and under the window, there is a white button. I press one of them out of curiosity. A metal door slides down, blocking access to this room. I press it again, which slides the door back up.

A landline next to the computer starts ringing. I press one of the buttons and a female automated voice began, "You have, two new, messages." A beep plays and then the message starts playing. A pre-recorded male voice began from the phone, "Hello again. So, the big boss man told me to inform you about our off-limit areas. Uh, I know it sounds kind of silly, since you're supposed to be guarding the place but the manager is adamant that we don't go where we're not supposed to be. He's talking about the rooms that aren't on your little uh, mini-map." – I check the computer; the screen shows a pitch black room of this place along with a miniature map and a label that says _MAIN STAGE_ – "They aren't on the map because it apparently isn't any of your business."

Something has clattered faintly outside of the office.

"Or ours, for that sake." – (a familiar voice cursed, "Aargh, my fucking foot...! Oh, shit!") – "Like that extra room, next to the Parts and Service room. I believe you can see the door from Camera 9."

" _Get the_ hell _away from me!"_ the second voice yelled.

It sounded like Danny RPG. I click on the button that reads _Cam 9_. Like the main stage, I can't see anything in there. I click on the same button by accident, and all of a sudden, a light from the live feed turns on, revealing the room, which has a stage and two doors.

"(Ah, yes. Thank you. Here, keep the change.) Excuse the sound of my delicious latte. Uh, anyway, the manager says it's just a storage room, but of course I've heard some stories from my superstitious colleagues.... So, it's either an extra kitchen, a staircase to a secret underground tunnel, or it's where he puts his bowling equipment because he doesn't want his wife to know he's still bowling. Of course, I don't believe it's anything special, to be honest."

A pair of glowing white eyes stare at me from the doorway to my left. These eyes look empty and unsettling, as if whatever this entity is seems hostile. I close the door and check the cameras. The entity appears to be a robot that looks like an anthropomorphic blue cat with a red tie. "I overheard him talk about the room once; he mentioned something about some 'old unused stuff'. Maybe he's hiding a smile in there, who knows. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, sweetie. I'll hang up now.) Haha, anyway, I'm all out of time! See you next week."

The clock in the center of the desk reads _1:03 AM_. I reopen the door. The robot seems to have left. A sound of faint footsteps from an animal is coming from the same distance, and is growing louder. I peek from the doorway on the right, and I see a pair of glowing amber eyes near the floor. It could be a Fallen Angel, but a small one. Actually, I recognize those eyes.... Danny RPG glitches into her human form and scatters into the office. She runs past me and pounds the white button on the left side of the room, closing the door. After slamming the door shut, she starts panting from being out of breath. However, about a minute later, her breathing grows normal. "Milk!" the girl exclaimed rapidly. "Thank goodness you're here, the stuff going on here is unbelievable! Also, I'm well aware that I'm not supposed to be here." She presses the button on the phone, checks the camera revealing what is on the other side of the door and reopens it. The phone plays some static and a deep garbled voice says something unintelligible. I asked, "What is this place? What is going on?" She answered as she is checking the cameras constantly, "Well, for starters, we are in a _Five Nights at Freddy's_ fangame called _Five Nights at Candy's Remastered_ , and you're apparently the protagonist of this one-shot. Don't ask me why, and we're under attack by homicidal robots that are possessed by murdered people. Long story short, we're on the fifth night of a game, the animatronics are very active along with some paranormal stuff, and I'm breaking the fourth wall again by saying that it's all a dream about being stuck in a three-dimensional game that is now involved by a cynical nerd who totally passionate about _shōnen_ anime and is writing fanfiction as I'm talking. Oh, crap." She presses the button under the window, which the other side is concealed by a metal shutter. Something strong bangs on it, which caused the lights to flicker briefly. She immediately presses the button again. She looks at me, going on, "I mean, this is some _Rick and Morty_ stuff right here, but less weirder and nihilistic. You most likely won't get it, Milk." She is right; after months of her living in the restaurant and my home, I still don't understand at least a third of what she says. However, I feel like I get the idea of what is going on. I asked, "So, to put simply, I'm dreaming that I am in a game where we are trying to survive a night with machines that are trying to kill us. That I understand, but how is this possible?" She shrugged, "I dunno, we nearly got K.O.'d by that Queen Conch before this happened. And then, we got saved by the other Food Souls and we got back home before our wounds could get worse. My clothes still smell like low tide. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention: Apparently, this is one of those dreams where the laws of physics _do_ apply, so there are a lot of limits to what you can do in here."

She checks the cameras and instructed, "Milk, close the door on the left. I'll take care of the one on the right." I follow her instructions while she closes the right door. Three seconds later she reopens it. I reopen the door in front of me. The clocks reads _2:15 AM_. _Does time pass fast here, or is it just me?_ I thought. "Well, that is an excellent question," Danny RPG replied. How did she read my mind? "I didn't read read your mind, Milk. Because I'm a deuteragonist and this is written in your point of view, I simply read your dialogue. Though the author might switch perspectives at any time and might end up being in my point of view, but that's up to them. So, an answer about time is that when you're actively invested in the passage of time, which is something that we perceive" – she presses the button under the window and walks to the left door to close it – "it seems to drag on for a while. But if you're focused on something else, like reading a book or" – there was a _thunk_ and she reopens both shutters – "trying to avoid possessed animatronics, time seems to pass by in an instant, and there's nothing we can do about that. Can you close the right door please?" I do what she says and wait for a few seconds before reopening it.

Five minutes later as Danny RPG explains the names of the machines and what they are capable of, the doors start closing and opening randomly. A small robot shaped like a flightless bird – a penguin, she calls it, I think – with a bow tie utters as it tampers with the doors asked, "May I take your order?" Danny RPG replied, "Oh, great, now we gotta deal with this guy." "May I take your order?" the robot repeated as the shutter concealing the window reopens. "Hey!" Danny RPG exclaimed as she closes it again. A muffled bang is emitted before she reopens it. The left door closes as the bird asks again, "May I take your order?" The girl, who has lost her patience faster than I anticipated, snapped at the animatronic, "Yes, get out of this room and don't come back!" The robot leaves the office. She lets out a short, relieved sigh. "That's one less animatronic to deal with. That damn penguin is a waiter who messes with the doors and stays here for the rest of the night if it enters here. Fortunately, we can talk here, so it can actually take orders rather than being just a nuisance. It's still annoying regardless, though."

After several more minutes of viewing the cameras and closing doors, I press the button on my right, which did nothing and the door refuses to close. Danny RPG's head perks up and looks at me in alarm. She exclaimed, "Oh, shit! How did I miss that?! Stay alert, Milk! One of the – "

 _"_ _Behind you!"_ I exclaimed. Danny RPG turns around as her scythe materializes in her right hand. With that swing, she strikes an animatronic that looks like an ape in green overalls. I think its name was Chester, according to the girl. The robot slams against the doorway and it falls onto its back, leaving a deep gash where her scythe struck. As I keep an eye out for more animatronics and checking on the robot named Blank, who determinedly tries to get into the office through the window, Danny RPG drags Chester out of the office. She quickly gets back in after she deals a defensive blast against an old and aggressive rat animatronic with her shield. I check the clock, which reads _5:58 AM_. As Danny RPG is catching her breath, her muscles relax a bit when she reads the clock. "We're almost there," she said. "We just gotta hang in there a little bit longer." There is a crash; something has burst through the window. Blank is here! I stand my ground, and Danny RPG gets off the chair. Her scythe and shield are equipped, and she stand her ground, preparing to attack the animatronic.

I suddenly open my eyes and realize that it was indeed a dream. Still, did Danny RPG enter my dream, or was it merely a coincidence? I would guess that one way to find out is if I ask her myself. Despite that, I am relieved that none of it was real. I look around and see that I'm in my room, lying on my bed under the warm blankets, next to my dear roommate Black Tea. She lets out a quiet yawn and wakes up. She looks at me with a soft and gentle expression. "Good morning, Milk. It seems you've had a troublesome night. If you're still tired, you can rest a while longer."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one of the Weavember prompts I talked about, which was Candy, but since January is very near, I figured it'd be more appropriate if it were an ordinary one-shot. Considering this was written as a joke, it's always best not to ask too many questions and just take content like this with a grain of salt. After all, it's written for fun, so it's best to take it easy, am I right?


	4. Quaran-tober (Writing Version)

_**It's a**_ _ **crystal**_ _ **clear**_ _ **night**_ outside of Glorywest Grill here in Gloriville, with just a few clouds above.. I look out one of the glass windows up in the attic in my human form. I open the window and take a good whiff of that fresh summer breeze. I'm grateful that there's not nearly as much of the smell of carbon in here than there is back in Lapon. Yet, I can't seem to fall asleep. Looking at a waxing moon along with the dazzling stars that illuminate the dark sky; it's a lovely sight. But, even so, I'm troubled by the fact that I remember a period of time when it was spring of 2020. Ugh, I'd trade those memories for the ones missing from my amnesia. Dammit, brain, give it a rest.

Back in Lapon, the flowers and weeds were blooming in the grass, the birds were chirping, and the sky was clear at times when it was sunny. Except, a lot of times, the weather was unpredictable, and it rained frequently during the weekends, soaking the neighborhoods wet. I still hate this year's spring. Sure, I spent a week having a hell of a time in France and England during Spring Break as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but on the other talon, that season sucked because of a pandemic that happened at the time. As you all know, it was the corona virus disease of 2019, or COVID-19 for short. I didn't care about it at all, assuming it wasn't nearly as threatening as influenza, but I'm guessing I was wrong because of how people reacted. Not to mention, the majority of the people out there were hoarding loads of toilet paper when they should've been hoarding food. To this day, I still can't grasp the idea of having to hoard that much paper because of some reason that I didn't know of. But, at least I cared about the well being of others, especially my parents and the relatives that I know pretty well from D.C., since they're old. With school closed and having to do all that social distancing bullshit, it was really frustrating whenever I'm talking to any of my friends. Let alone seeing them in person. When that happened, I've had to try my damnest to bottle my troubles up, and let them out when I'm all alone in my room. With the quarantine going on, my life has gotten depressingly quiet, but at least there's always something going on online.

Onto the bright side of that past, everyone I knew stayed healthy and alive. The skies were finally clearing in China. YouTubers online were uniting virtually to raise money in charity streams for stopping COVID-19. Artists including myself were working together to support each other during these hardships. And I continued my neverending quest to improve myself as an aspiring artist. Looking at the quarantine from that perspective, maybe it wasn't so bad. Plus, all of the schools were closed for the year, and semester exams and STAAR tests were canceled. How great is that? By learning online in some site called Edgenuity, I've had to do much less work, which did my academic burnout a hell of a favor. Though, my only reason for wanting to go back to school was to return these library books that I had, which are long overdue by now. Since I'm stuck in Tierra, I'll never return them, but I'm hoping someone did that for me during my absence in Texas. If I recall correctly, I believe they were volumes three and four of _My Hero Academia_ and _The Institute_ by Stephen King.

Looking at it that way, I guess I don't hate that spring as much as I initially did. Still, I'd like to clear my mind before going back to sleep. My wings and tail glitch into existence. I jump out the window and fly above the trees near the restaurant. Even if it's a lot of work flapping my wings, feeling the wind all over my body is refreshing and exhilarating. Invigorated by my flight, I go higher to the fluffy clouds, soaring through them without any direction. When I got above the clouds, I hover and look at the glowing moon. It's strange that despite the moon being there near Tierra, it doesn't seem to affect the gravitational pull of the two suns that the planet orbits around like it's not there at all. Considering I'm in an entirely different universe, I'm going to assume that's anime logic.

Looking at the time in my watch, I decide it's time to go back to the restaurant. I dive down, then I immediately unfold my wings, with small flames bursting out from them and the fur on my tail. I slow down and extinguish the flames as I'm flying towards the restaurant. I land on the ledge of the window and step into the attic. My wings and tail dematerialize upon landing. I close the window, and I quickly fall asleep on my mattress. All that flying takes a lot of energy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been hearing about this drawing challenge on Instagram called Quaran-tober, but because I've been feeling uninspired lately from the quarantine, I decided to do my own version of that challenge by writing about it. I didn't do all of the prompts, though, and the one that are used are underlined. Also, COVID-19, from what I heard, is way more threatening than influenza, but my character didn't really knew or understood about it very well because she rarely cares about what's happening on the news.


	5. A List of Dumb and Dry Ideas for ABW (Concept and Beta)

**The Uke Mochi in the alley** : I was walking down the road at night and I was about to walk past an alley when I heard a few cans clattering there. I was going to walk away and keep minding my business, but my curiosity peaked when I saw some movement there. I know there's always that cliché moment in horror movies, the character would see or hear something out of the ordinary and they go investigate it while the nitpicky viewer goes: "Run, you idiot, run ー shit, I saw that one coming." But, I should remind you that I'm not an ordinary character. Well, not _anymore_ . I quietly step into the alley. I said, "Hello, anyone there? Yo." I wait for a second, listening to the ambient silence. A number of eyes in the shadows appeared, a few large tentacles, and a set of massive teeth with two long and extensive tongues sticking out became visible in the darkness. It was an enhanced Uke Mochi, but it was smaller than the ones I've encountered in the past. Since Fallen Angels are capable of shape-shifting, I assumed it must have changed its size so it would fit in the alley. Still, wouldn't it make more sense if it was in its typical form, or be disguised as a human? I decide not to ask. The Uke Mochi said in a slow, raspy voice, "Hi~" I replied, “Hello.” I was going to walk away when she said, "Usually people run away and scream in fear or try to attack me. Yet, you're doing neither, and you acknowledge my existence. Are you ー" I said in unison, "'ー sure you're not a Fallen Angel? Stop that. Okay, that's getting annoying.'" The enhanced Uke Mochi stopped. I went on, "I've heard that one before. And my answer is: ‘Dude, I honestly don't know anymore.’ I know I'm for sure not a Food Soul; otherwise, I'd be named after a food that I either have or haven't heard of before. And I might probably get killed someday regardless.... Welp, g’night, I guess." The Fallen Angel remained quiet as I walked away. She thought, _What a strange human._ Okay, I made that last sentence up; I don't know what she's thinking. But if I did, she would probably be thinking that.

**Rubber chicken** : I’m facing a group of Fallen Angels in the forest entry to Parisel. This time, the Fallens are a Spoon Holder and two Lucky Squids working with a Rocketero and a Rabbert. Fallens like these are pretty common, though it's not every day you'd see Fallen Angels from the Altered Animal Tribe to be in this part of Gloriville, especially since this is one of the game's hard stages. But, I reckon things are entirely different when you’re only used to seeing what's on the screen of your phone or computer rather than actually facing them in person. Makes sense, because from a screen, the battles would feature simple fights with chibi sprites of the characters with amazing backgrounds and vibrant colors. Being literally inside that world, however … well, you’ve already gotten the idea.

I was assigned to go to this part of Parisel to look for Soul Shards and Embers. Usually, when I do that, I'd be with a few Food Souls and sometimes Samson, but not this time. They asked me to do it on my own. I guess Olivia asked them to test my independence. And since I was alone, I assume they're testing how well can I handle these Fallen Angels now compared to the first time I fought them alone. In my opinion, I'm much better than before, but I can still barely handle my weapon and shield without dropping them. And, sure enough, there's some Fallens in front of me. Unsurprising and inevitable, but now a little concerning. Still, I hold my ground. I open the Inventory, ready to deploy my weapons. Instead, a rubber chicken gets equipped. “Eh?! When did I get a rubber chicken?” I asked myself aloud. The Rocketero fires its cannon and the Spoon Holder tries to stab me with its weapon; both Fallens missed. The Lucky Squids try to grab hold of my legs to immobilize me but I knock them off with my tail and kick one of them away from me. Upon doing that, my wings smack the Rabbert before it could knock me out with its carrots. The claw on my right wing gives the Fallen a nasty scratch on the face. I immediately take cover behind a large rock and told myself, _Dammit, Danny RPG! Take this seriously! I must’ve accidentally taken the chicken from either the Hammerspace or from Moon Cake when she and Ume Ochazuke were pulling a prank on Sweet Tofu yesterday._ The latter seemed more likely.

I equip my scythe this time. It’s still heavy, but I’m having an easier time than before thanks to the Food Souls’ training. Considering these Fallen Angels are weaker (and more common) compared to others, I don’t need to use my shield.

**A** ** _One Piece_** **x** ** _Food Fantasy_** **joke that will most likely never happen, but it's typed anyway because of its silliness** : In the scene where Boa Hancock was trying to turn Luffy to stone (only to find out that he's immune to it because he's a selfless airhead and he mistook it for another Devil Fruit attack), Danny RPG falls into an experimental portal that opened on the ceiling as an attempt to go back to the real world, only to fall into the pool of water in front of Luffy. She gets out of it, exclaiming, "Aarrgh, son of a bitch, that's hot! But at least the portal worked. Yes! Ye ー wait, why do I still look like I'm in an anime? And it's so humid here; I hope I didn't land in a sauna. That would be" ー she turns around to see Luffy, Hancock, and her sisters ー "embarrassing…." Being a total nerd for _One Piece_ , her face immediately turns pale as she knew what was happening. "Oh, _hell no_! How atrocious could my timing get?! Wait, _wait_! _Don't close the portal yet!_ " Her wings and tail glitch into existence and she immediately flies through the portal right before it closes as she babbled, "I don't wanna be turned to stone!" Luffy and the three women stand there, surprised and confused by the seemingly random incident. Hancock remembers what she was doing and tries her attack again. "Mero Mero Mellow!" she chanted. Luffy runs away screaming in terror and now with even more confusion, "I don't know what just happened, but I'd better get out of here at any rate!" He immediately busts out of a window and uses his Devil Fruit powers to escape.

**Version two of the gag above** : In the scene where Boa Hancock is trying to turn Luffy to stone (only to find out that he's immune to it because he's a selfless airhead and he mistook it for another Devil Fruit attack), Danny RPG falls into an experimental portal that opened on the ceiling as an attempt to go back to the real world, only to fall into the pool of water in front of Luffy. She gets out of it, exclaiming, "Aarrgh, son of a bitch, that's hot! But at least the portal worked. Yes! Ye ー wait, why do I still look like I'm in an anime? And it's so humid here; I hope I didn't land in a sauna. That would be" ー she turns around to see Luffy, Hancock, and her sisters ー "embarrassing…." Being a total nerd for _One Piece_ , her face immediately turns pale as she knew what was happening. "Oh, _hell no_ ! How atrocious could my timing get?! Wait, _wait_ ! _Don't close the portal yet!_ " Her wings and tail glitch into existence and she immediately flies to the portal as she babbled, "I don't wanna be turned to st ー _Oouuucch_!"

Unfortunately for Danny RPG, the portal closes before she could get though, hitting her head on the stone ceiling. Rubbing her scalp, she exclaimed, “Owwww, that fucking hurts!” Luffy and the three women stand there, surprised and confused by the seemingly random incident. Hancock remembers what she was doing and tries her attack again. "Mero Mero Mellow!" she chanted. Luffy runs away screaming in terror and now with even more confusion, "I don't know what just happened, but I'd better get out of here at any rate!" Danny RPG chuckles nervously at the Boa sisters, and with her wide awkward grin, her head retreats to her shoulders. Her nervous smile turns into a terrified wince, and she runs in Luffy’s direction, screaming, “WAIT FOR ME, LUFFY!”

Luffy immediately busts out of a window and uses his Devil Fruit powers to escape. The woman jumps through the hole Luffy made and flies away, following him because she doesn’t know where to go. She grabs her phone from her inventory and pushes a few buttons while still following him. _“RICK!”_ she screamed angrily, her ear against the receiver. _“You drunk, old bastard! LUFFY AND I ALMOST GOT TURNED TO STONE FOR FUCK’S SAKE!”_ Luffy stops at the roof of a high building away from the palace. Danny RPG lands near him. Rick asks through the phone, “Whoa, easy there. H-how did that happen?” Morty, also with Rick, asked, “Wait, you mentioned Luffy? The future King of the Pirates from _One Piece_ ?!” Danny RPG’s wings and tail disappear. “Yes, in fact, I’m standing right next to him. We barely got away from Hancock and now we’re standing on top of a building.” She looks at Luffy and glances at his features, much to Luffy’s surprise and confusion. Danny RPG whispered loudly, “I think I’m with the Luffy from the original _One Piece_ !” “I can still hear you,” Luffy remarked. “And what do you mean ‘the original _One Piece_ ’? That’s the treasure I’m after.”

She holds the phone in front of her face. “Please, get me outta here before I mess this universe up any further!” Rick belches through the phone. “We’re w-way ahead of you.” Three second later, Rick’s ship appears with Rick driving and Morty in the passenger seat. The glass dome opens and Danny RPG jumps into one of the back seats. The dome closes, and the ship flies to another universe. Luffy stands there, surprised and confused by this occurrence.

**Danny Python and the Killer Fallens** : Danny RPG was searching the forest for the Fallen Angels that were wreaking havoc recently. She picks their scent thanks to a blood sample she collected and her newfound ability to find scents and locate their source. She knew that she was far too inexperienced to fight them, so Danny RPG challenged them to gain information on them. There was the shock that the Fallen can understand what she's saying to them and it seems eager to kill her. Her response: _"Right…. CHAAAAARRRGE!"_ Not even a few minutes later: " _RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY!"_ Even in a wounded state, she's still making jokes and references.

**More Spoofing** :

  * And don't get me started on Milk's tits! I'm surprised she doesn't have any back pain at all from the absurd size of those jugs!
  * I remember that when I first saw Boston Lobster, I used to call him Legolas because of his hot appearance and his long white hair. Then I noticed that he’s not really an elf because of his ears. Still, don’t piss Red Lobster ー I mean, Boston Lobster ー off despite having to constantly hear him talk out of his rear. Oh, wait, that’s Sweet Tofu.... Regardless, don’t mess with them either way.
  * Yes, I bit the hand that tried to pet me (literally), but hey, Sweet deserved it. His chaotic nature is disrupting the peace of the restaurant.



**_That's all, folks!_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may tell, one of these parts was written in past tense. Originally, I planned on writing Anomaly Between Worlds in past tense, but after thinking about it between chapters one and two of the fanfiction, I decided to change to present tense, because I thought writing it in past tense would make it sound like a wacky memoir, which is not what I was going for. In two of the ideas listed, I included One Piece and Rick and Morty there as stupid jokes because I got inspired earlier this summer after watching a video clip of that time when Boa Hancock tried to turn Monkey D. Luffy to stone unsuccessfully. Version two of this idea is an extended and modified version of it, which was written because I was thinking about RIck and Morty, and my mind wouldn't stop thinking about payasadas after re-reading these ideas. Will this appear in Anomaly Between Worlds? No one will ever know! (Not even me, of course.) And yes, the "Danny Python" gag is a parody of the killer bunny scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.


	6. Subjective Thinking (Concept and Beta)

Samson always felt that he understood Tiramisu's meaning, but he had a difficult time expressing it to Rice. Her eyes glittering, Rice seemed lost in thought about what Samson was trying to say. “Putting the contract aside for subjective thinking, putting the contract aside … eh…?” Ichi suddenly shows up from the door, startling me from my catnap. Ichi asked, “Morning, Samson~ I heard at the door steps you guys are doing the some thinking. What's up?” I sat in the same spot where I slept, listening to the conversation." Samson asked, "Uh … did you realize you're late?"

“I know; I overslept. I'm sorry. So what are you guys talking about?”

“Nothing much. I wanted to know if Rice understands the concept of 'subjective thinking,' but I'm having trouble trying to explain it to her.”

“You want a Food Soul to have its own ideas? That sort of thinking? That's something you don't hear everyday.” I nodded quietly, confirming that it was from the main story.

“Don't you think it's important?” I nodded again, with a smile this time. _Heck yeah!_ I thought.

“Hahahah,” Ichi chuckled, “Rice, what do you want to do the most?” Rice answered with an excited smile, “Of course, it is accompanying Mast Attendant, and doing my best to assist Master Attendant!” Ichi added, “See, isn't it enough?”Iglided to the table where the other people were having their conversation. I grabbed my notepad from nowhere and hastily scrawled on it with a ballpoint pen. I then gave the notepad to Samson;he read it aloud: “ _Subjective is_ _s_ _omething existing in the mind belonging to the thinking subject, pertaining characteristic of an individual – as opposed to objective thinking, which is being the object of goal of one's efforts or actions._ Thanks, Danny.” I gave him a thumbs-up with a smile. _No problem_ , I thought. _Y_ _ou can thank the Internet for that info_ _rmation, though_. Ichi asked, “I've never seen a dragon like that before.” Samson replied, “During my first day of fighting Fallen Angels, Tom Yum found her weak and unconscious, so we took her into the restaurant to nurse her back to health and she's been staying with us ever since. She goes by Danny RPG, or simply Danny.”

“So –”

“Master Samson!” Tiramisu yelled as she suddenly burst into the Glorywest Grill. Startled by her entrance, I jumped a couple of inches high and roared, _“_ _SON OF A BITCH_ _, TIRAMISU!”_ Upon landing, I hissed in a very defensive pose, _“_ _Don't do that_ _!”_ Samson replied, “Tiramisu? What happened?”

“Haven't you heard? It's the boss of the building material company.”

“What happened?”

“This is the letter Madam Olivia received. Have a look.”

I calmed down quickly and jumped to Samson's shoulders to read the letter. When we finished, my shoulders drooped but the wings remain folded. Samson and I grew worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was one of those ideas there were in past tense. There's a chance I might add it to ABW, but in present tense.  
> Also, here's a part of the conversation that didn't get written because of Tiramisu's interruption:  
> Ichi: So … she's some kind of a pet?  
> Samson: In a way, yeah. She's very intelligent for a pet, though. Almost as if she's a human in the body of a dragon.


	7. Meet Aizen (Concept and Beta)

I'm taking a short hike to clear my head. It’s been a while since the incident and still no leads or even a shred of recollection of what happened. For the most part, I’ve been forcing myself to keep the restaurant clean despite Brownie and Pastel constantly insisting that they can take care of it. Honestly, these two could take a break; Brownie nearly passed out several times and Pastel got overwhelmed by the customers twice. Considering I have nothing else to do, Rice, Tom Yum, and the others have still been teaching me the things they know, including how to switch between forms in a short amount of time. With all the Fallens out there, Tierra is a deadly world, but that’s fine for me because I don’t get out much anyway. I know this all too well; not just from playing the game, but also from that fight as my Basic Form three weeks after whatever made me pull a _Sword Art Online_.

Since I started living in this place, Foie Gras has been teaching me how to fly. Tom Yum and Bamboo Rice have been teaching me how to do hand-to-hand combat. Hotdog teaches me the things they know about art (traditional and, surprisingly, digital). Interestingly, Spicy Gluten has been teaching me how to be mentally and emotionally prepared for many situations (that, and trying not to get charmed/whipped during combat training), and Black Tea has taught me how to handle a real pistol (and occasionally a rifle when Napoleon Cake is around) after she saw me play those shooter games. Gingerbread, Steak, and/or Red Wine would take advantage of the time to teach me how to fight with a shield and a sword (or scythe, in my case). And with all the crazy shit that happened regarding the game’s main story, I thought I might wake up in the early morning, and go on a quiet walk on a nearby nature trail in the forest and sit at the bank of a river. Of course, even though there’s a trail, I carry a map with me because it’s easy to get lost and there are warning signs at the start saying there are Fallen Angels present. (Plus, there was that part in the main story where the main characters got lost in the forest.)

At the bank of the creek there is a rock, which is just a few meters off of the trail. I'm really enjoying the silence and the sound of water flowing. It’s nice listening to something like this while outdoors, especially after spending three weeks mostly indoors as a cat-sized dragon. Still, it’s quite strange. I know that I’m in a game, but the glitches are pretty abnormal even in a world like this. I mean, they didn’t begin until shortly after my injuries healed. Of course, it's very unlikely that I'll simply stop existing because this isn't _Into the Spider-verse_. I reckon it's more like _The Chronicles of Narnia_ or _That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime_. But, at least I’m human again. Sort of…. At this point, is it even a game, or is it genuinely another universe inexplicably linked to mine?

“ _Hey!”_ a disgruntled voice called out. “What are you doing here?” Startled by the voice, I stand up and my dragon features glitch into existence, including the shield and scythe, which are still really heavy. Even after that recent training, I could still barely lift my weapons. Struggling to pick them up, I asked myself, “ _Dagnabbit_ , why do they make it look so easy in video games and the kind of anime that's fanservice-y? Oh, wait….” The shield and the red scythe disappear. I hastily get up once more and scan my surroundings. I immediately replied, “Who said that?!” Something taps onto my shoulder and the voice said, “I’m over here.” I quickly turn around and an Aizen right behind me and is looking down at me with an annoyed and confused look. _Fuck!_ I thought. _This Fallen Angel is barely a few inches away from me and … is actually not as tall as I thought he would be…. Huh. I mean, I’m almost at shoulder level with this guy. Too bad he’s sober; I read in the game that chances of survival would be higher if he was drunk. Welp, I guess I’m screwed …_ again… _._

The dragon features glitch into nothingness. Aizen looks as though he’s thinking, _Eh? What the heck did I just saw?_ With an awkward smile, I asked, “Oh, um, hi. Uhh … whatcha doing here?”

“I asked you the same thing.”

“Fair enough. I’m Danny RPG and right now I was just taking a walk for some fresh air and thought it’d be nice to sit here to sort out my thoughts. So, what are you doing here?”

“I live here, near this part of the river.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. My bad. I’ll just leave. I think I got some work to do anyway.” I turn to my left and was about to sheepishly make my way back to the grill when Aizen said, “Wait.” He walks towards me with a suspicious look on his face. He was analyzing every detail on my face and lifted my glasses to see my eyes for a second. He spoke, “You’ve been here for less than a few minutes and I could immediately tell you’re very strange even for a human. Something about you seems familiar. Are you that girl I’ve been hearing rumors about recently?”

“Dunno, but I guess word travels everywhere…?”

“I could’ve sworn you’d be something else. You have the wings and the tail, though.”

“Yeah, I tried fighting the Fallen Angels that were causing havoc a few weeks ago.” I sit back down; Aizen does the same.

“So you can change forms. Not unlike a Fallen Angel. Though, this is the first time I’ve seen a human that can do that.”

“Really? I thought it was strange because I didn’t know I could turn into a dragon. And I wasn't sure if I was able to turn back into a human again. Actually, I didn’t think it was possible until I fought again after my injuries healed. Is that normal, even for a Fallen?”

“Not likely. And you discovered this recently?”

“If it wasn’t recent, I’d have better control of these gli – I mean, _powers_ by now. Well, as much as I want to keep talking, I better head back to the grill. Samson and his Food Souls will probably get worried I stayed here any longer. It was nice meeting you, Aizen.”

“Hmph, nice meeting you too, human.”

I gave Aizen a friendly handshake and walked away. Faintly, I could somehow hear him mutter under his breath, “Are you sure you’re not a Fallen Angel?”

I know Fallen Angels are murderous and deadly, but once in a while, there's always going to be that one Fallen who's either friendly or simply doesn't give a damn about anything and remains neutral unless provoked. It's probably likely that Aizen may be one of those exceptions, but I can't be too sure. I mean, I've only known him for like, three minutes. As I'm walking down the trail back to Glorywest Grill, I started to wonder about those Uke Mochies (or is it just “Mochi” even in plural form?) that my friends and I fought. Maybe there's a possibility that –

“ _I got you now!”_ an Uke Mochi yelled as she suddenly appears out of nowhere and lashed her tentacles at me. My wings and tail materialize again and I dodge the attack. _"Nope!"_ I babbled frantically. “Definitely hostile! _Definitely hostile!”_ I look at her face. The Fallen throws her fork like a javelin, which can deal heavy damage to the ally farthest away from the enemy, but she misses again. My dodging skills seem to have improved. I asked, “Wait, aren't you that Uke Mochi from last week?” She didn't listen, so I glitch into my Basic form and perform Spitfire Flare as a defense attack. I change into my human form and stumble with my dragon appendages, scraping the ground. I immediately get up and fly away while the Fallen is still distracted by my explosive flares.

I make it out of the forest and rush to the back door of the restaurant. Panting out of breath, I forcefully open the door and get into the kitchen and slam it shut as if I'm still being chased. Thankfully, I'm not. Rice is working with Hawthorne on a recipe and they give me looks of concern and surprise. I pick up a faint burning smell and realize that I singed my fur during the escape. Though, it seems to have stopped smoking by now. The tail and wings disappear again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't remember when I wrote this, but it was around my freshman year in high school when I started writing Anomaly Between Worlds. I would change it whenever I update the story, but decided to stop changing this idea chapter and leave it the way it is so it would help me out with how I plan to write the story of my fanfiction. Also, I have this headcanon for the story where there's more than one of the same kind of spirit (namely, Fallen Angels and Food Souls), so each individual Fallen or Food Soul would have their own story rather than just the ones from the game. The appearances are the same (much like clones), but their personalities tend to vary depending on the individual spirit's story (while maintaining a main personality trait for each Food Soul depending on their bio). For Fallens, though, their personalities are a little more diverse. There are some that just pure evil, there are some that are chaotic or passive neutral (like the Aizen in this story), some just don't care and prefer to be chilling out and minding their own business, and there are some that prefer to do good (but they disguise themselves as humans and/or elves to avoid getting killed). And yeah, most of the Dine-and-Dashers that appear in the fanfiction are indeed the type of Fallen Angels that are not necessarily evil nor are they that neutral, but would prefer to simply cause mischief and trouble since that's mostly in their nature. Because of this headcanon, the Aizen that Danny RPG met is a chill, passive neutral that prefers being alone, but ends up being friends with her due to her quirky nature. And so, she gave him the nickname "Ace".


	8. Flashback 1 (Concept and Beta)

_It was Sunday and parents and I are sitting in the living room, watching_ Creeped Out _. We heard the doorbell ring. Mom told me, “_ Danny, creo que ya llego tu paquete.” _I rushed to the door eagerly. Halloween is near, and to save time on making my outfit that year, we conveniently found a pair of wings on Amazon for roughly twenty dollars a few days ago. I opened the door and pick up the large cardboard box standing vertically in front of the door. I took the lightweight cardboard box to the kitchen and set it on the table. Mom grabbed a small knife and carefully cuts the tape. I opened the box and saw a small pair of red dragon wings wrapped in a clear plastic. They're the kind of wings that can be unfolded by pulling these black chords. The left chord unfolds the right wing and the right chord unfolds the left wing. I was really happy when I got them and I thanked Mom again for conveniently finding them. Dad joked,_ “No vas a volar como _Hiccup_ en _How To Train Your Dragon_ , ¿verdad?” _“Of cours_ _e not, Dad,” I replied, with a half-amused smile. Obviously, it's impossible to fly with wings like those. The wings are made of plastic and fabric, they're too small to lift someone like me, and they're not even remotely suited for flight. But, the design of the wings are really neat anyway. All I needed to do now was making the tail, which Mom did on the following Friday._

**Eight Months Later**

My mind being a bit woozy, I sit up to see what just happened. Foie Gras is lying on the floor knocked-out, and her chest is slightly bruised as though something had forcefully collided with her about a minute ago. I reach her shoulder and shake it lightly as I asked, “Hey, Foie, are you alri − wait, I can talk!” I immediately let go and looked at my hands. They're white and human for the first time in weeks. I check my face, which is human as well, and see right away that I have my long, brown hair back, and my glasses are on my face. I hastily look at the clothes I'm now wearing; tennis shoes, blue denim jeans, a long-sleeved shirt of _One Piece: Stampede_ , and a red leather jacket with a grey hood. Dumbfounded, I added, “I'm … human again…!” − I try to stand up − “I'm human agai – waoh!”

_Thud!_

My legs collapse and I fall on the floor. After weeks of being a dragon, I've gotten rusty on how to walk like my old self. But, at least I've been practicing. I look at Foie's staff and reach for it. I place one of the ends to the floor and use the staff to hoist myself off the floor and to support my weight. As I'm teaching myself how to walk again, using the staff as a cane, Foie regains consciousness. By then, I got the hang of it again, so I put the staff down and help Foie get up. I asked, “Oh, shit. Are you alright, Foie?”

As soon as I hear somebody rush their way to the training arena, I suddenly glitch back into a dragon. Spicy Gluten enters the room with a startled look. I roar in annoyance as I look at myself, “ _Oh, come on! Really?!”_ Foie Gras recovers from the collision. She groaned as she sits up, “What happened?” Spicy replied, “I was about to ask that. What did you do now, dragon?” I babbled frantically, “ _It was an accident, I swear. I’ve no idea how it happened. Foie and I were practicing how to fly and suddenly I turn back into a human and –”_ “Danny,” Foie interrupted. “Calm down please. I’m fine. Though, I swear I saw you turn into a human … and heard you talk?” I shrug with a surprised and confused look, still panicking from what Spicy might do. Spicy remarked, “I think you hit your head harder than Danny’s skull.” I'm having a hard time keeping a straight face at that insult. That's actually a pretty funny insult.


	9. Burger Barn Bedlam (Happy's Humble Burger Barn)

_**I gasp for air as**_ I suddenly wake up. “I swear,” I grumbled loudly, “if I start a story or chapter with me waking up one more time, I'm going to fucking – oh, hi, Black Tea.” Black Tea groans as she wakes up. Damn, she's seen better days; she looks like Lara Croft from the original _Tomb Raider_. Actually, come to think of it, when I look at my surroundings, this appears to be a PS1/retro-style game. Y'know, like those indie horror games that mimic those styles? Yeah, that's exactly what it looks like.

Black Tea asked, “What…? Where am I? Danny, what … what happened to you?” I answered, “I dunno, but I hate to see where this goes. All I know is that we’re in another one-shot, and I don’t know what this game is.” She looks confused. “A game? And, what do you mean ‘another one-shot’?”

“Do you remember that bizarre dream Milk had that had me in it? Yeah, that’s pretty much what this is about. Except … this doesn’t look like a _FNaF_ game, or even a fangame. I think this is something else. It appears to be mimicking the style of a PlayStation 1 game.”

“Would that be a prototype of that PlayStation console you found in the attic?”

“Kinda, it’s pretty much the original PlayStation console from thirty years ago. Of course, the only PS1 game I know is _Lara Croft Tomb Raider_ , so I could be wrong about the mimicking part.” Then again, there was that Siren Head fangame, so I could be right. To be honest, I don’t know; for all I know, this game could’ve been made in, say, 2020. Man, that was a shit year.

Back to the setting, it’s night and we’re in a pickup truck. The only lights I could see are from the headlights of the vehicle. I realize quickly after waking up that I’m in the driver’s seat, and Black Tea is next to me. She asked, “Where are we?” I answer, “I don’t know, but I guess the only way to go is forward.” I turn on the car radio, and I start driving. A gong is heard and synth music starts playing as a voice announced, “Test your might.” repeatedly four times, immediately followed by someone shouting, “ _Mortal Kombat!”_ After a few seconds of driving and listening to the theme song, Black Tea asked, “Is that from one of those games you’re obsessed about? I do not think I know this one, though.” With a proud smile, I replied, “Yep, and this one’s a classic. I’ve only played the original _Mortal Kombat_ once though, at the National Videogame Museum in Frisco. It was a super fun place.”

“I see. And what console was _Mortal Kombat_ in?”

“Originally, it was an arcade game, like _Street Fighter_ and _Pac-Man_ , but then there was a controversy involving the violence of the game, so an organization known as the Entertainment Software Rating Board was conceived, and now all video games are required to have some maturity rating. It’s not a bother, though, since it helps give me an idea of what these games are about aside from the trailers. Also, the game was a huge hit and it became a franchise since then.”

“Yes, and it makes sense that it would exist considering I’ve seen you play _Doom: Eternal_."

I chuckle lightly. The announcer said, “ _... Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Sonya. Mortal Kombat!”_ I piped up, “Oh, look, there’s a building right up ahead.” There is a white building, about a story tall, and on top there is a red neon sign reading _Happy’s Humble Burger Barn_ in cursive. I decide to park next to a nearby dumpster in the back of the building. We get off the truck. Damn, it is really dark out here, but I can see the stars and the full moon from above, and there is a city behind a forest that we’re in. We just happen to be at a fast-food restaurant, and I would’ve said it’s in the middle of nowhere if it weren’t for the bright city in the distance.

Seeing the back of the restaurant, we notice there is a vending machine, and a pack of unused cigarettes, which I pick up, fly to the dumpster, and gladly throw the cigarettes into it. I fly back to the Food Soul, and my wings and tail dematerialize. She remarked, “There are a lot of things I find very questionable about you, but I am glad you don’t smoke.” I smiled, “I’ll take that as a compliment. And, yeah, I’m glad too; I wouldn’t want to ruin these lungs, am I right?” She nods.

I look at the back door. There is a poster that reads: _HAPPY’S HUMBLE BURGER BARN; EMPLOYEES ONLY; All employees MUST clock in upon entering premises. Happy’s Humble Burger Barn and Affiliates accept no responsibility or liability upon accident, injury, or even death._ “Damn, that’s dark,” I said. We continue reading. _Only Employees and/parties given prior consent are able to enter the premises from this door. Patrons may enter on the other side of the building. Thank you for your cooperation. – Happy’s Humble Burger Barn._

Black Tea commented, “There’s something very unsettling about this.” I added, “Agreed.” I turn the knob cautiously as Black Tea grabs her pistols from her holsters. I open the door and she points her guns to the entrance. There’s no one there.

In front of us is a dark entrance with some empty shelves on the inside. Actually, my glasses just detected something in one of the shelves. I see two punch cards which my glasses highlighted upon looking at them through the lenses. On the wall behind the shelves is a poster of two innocent puppies sitting. There is a bass lying on the bottom shelf. Out of curiosity, I pick up the bass. Black Tea asked, “Do you play that instrument?” I strum a few notes. “Not really,” I answered. “I tried learning how to play the electric guitar once, but it just didn't work out.” I put the bass back to where it was.

Black Tea picks up the two cards. I said, “I guess we just take these cards and clock in as they say. It looks like we can do that over there.” I point to a device on the wall. It has a slot where we can insert the cards in. I asked, “May I have one of those cards?” She politely hands one of the cards to me. I walk to the device and insert the card. A click is heard. “Now you,” I said. Black Tea does the same.

I immediately notice there is a boombox on our left. I gladly remarked, “Hey, look, a boombox. I've always wanted one of those when I was a kid. I wonder if it works.” I notice there are a few cassette tapes lying next to the boombox. I couldn't really read what the labels say since they're in Japanese, but something about the wording in one of them seems familiar. I decide to put that tape into the boombox and hit play. Some really upbeat and fast-paced music starts playing. As the music keeps going, a few low voices sing, “ _JoJo.”_ three times. “Ohhhh!” I exclaimed in realization. “No wonder that writing was so familiar! It's the theme for _JoJo's Bizarre Adventure_! I think it's from the first arc in the series. What was it called? Oh, yeah, the _Phantom Blood_ arc. How cool is that? Man, I should practice my Japanese more often and see what these other tapes have in store. But, let's continue with what we were doing, so, moving on.” I press the pause button on the boombox, and the theme stops playing.

We look at the door in front of us, and Black Tea opens it with caution. Nothing happens. I approach the next room. Based on what my glasses are showing with its dark vision, it is exactly what the sign implies; we’re in an empty fast-food restaurant, and we’re probably the employees of this place. There is a light switch attached to the wall and is above a few garbage bags. I turn on the lights. Black Tea puts her guns back to their holsters. I said, “Hey, Black Tea.” She answered, “Yes, Danny RPG?”

“Do you ever get the feeling that we know what to do, except we don’t know what the instructions are? It’s like we just intuitively know what the tasks are even though we weren’t told what to do.”

“Actually, yes. And what is even stranger about this is that neither of us seem to remember what happened recently.”

“Yeah, I mean, one minute we were minding our own business in Glorywest Grill, and the next minute we end up in a car and we somehow know what to do about what’s going on. And based on the graphics of this place, this is no doubt to be a dream.”

“I guess that would make sense considering everything about this place is suspicious and yet, there’s nothing going on. If this is indeed a dream, why is it that we cannot wake up so easily?’

“Good question, but my guess is that these particular dreams are like video games, and it usually has me involved. And based on what I’ve dreamt, these are usually horror games. Well, except for a few times, like that time Butterscotch dreamt about _Undertale_ and I was Chara in it. Or that time I dreamed about _Touhou Project_. The only difference is that, I don’t know about this game in particular. It’s probably new, and for all I know, there could be a sequel in its Alpha stage. But maybe the author does know, hence why this is happening and how am I getting these dreams as a one-shot series. Also, it’s probably likely there may some foreshadowing involved since I somehow managed to guess what I just said, but I guess that depends on the author and probably their audience.”

“And, is ‘the author’ some deity you know of?”

“Oh, God, no. Definitely not a deity; they’re just an alternate version of myself from another universe where all of this is fanfiction. Considering this is a one-shot, I don’t know if they’re older or younger than me, and my age is currently unspecified during this time period of when did this dream take place. But, I do know that by the time they wrote Chapter 12 – the time when Butterscotch and Napoleon were summoned – they and I were at the same age, only that the author is older than I am and probably turned 17 by now. I dunno, this all just a theory, and it all depends on how they’re feeling and what goes on in their life. As long as they’re alive and young, there’s a good chance they’ll have their stories finished in no time. The fanfiction we’re from, not so much, since there’s _a lot_ to write there, and twelve chapters is barely the beginning. Well, I guess it’s _technically_ thirteen since there was that joke chapter they wrote for April Fools’.”

Black Tea just stares at me, seemingly lost. “Okay…? So, if what you are saying is true then does that mean we’re not real? At least, in another universe?”

“Bingo.”

“That’s … quite a lot to process, but I think I am getting what Milk said about her dream with you. It’s just very strange that you somehow have these memories of your alternate self and you manage to know all of … this….”

“My advice is don’t think about it too much, and just go with it. That way you don’t end up like Rick, and you’ll instead be like a conservative version of Deadpool and just laugh it off without caring much of whether this is real or not.”

“I will keep that in mind. Right now, I feel like what we should do next is open this restaurant.”

“Ditto.” We look around and we quickly see a poster. This place is just like any other remote fast-food restaurant, but empty. There are piles of sliced tomatoes, pickles, onions, and lettuce in a nearby counter. There is a pile of hamburger buns scattered in another counter near the first one, and next to where the buns are, there is a large grill for cooking meat. On our right is a walk-in freezer containing boxes of vegetables and frozen hamburger patties. One box of patties is open. As soon as I step into the freezer, a startled rat runs out of it. This is unsanitary and pathetic.

On the left to the freezer is a place to deep-fry the food, but there isn’t any oil in the fryers, and there is a shelf with pile of pre-made french fries next to small containers of chicken nuggets. Oh, looking at one of the containers, they’re actually salmon nuggets. Next to the fries and nuggets, there is a milkshake dispenser which is next to a soda dispenser.

Looking back at the poster, it reads _How To Make A Happy’s Deluxe; Grab a frozen patty from the freezer and throw it on the grill. Place the Bun, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, and Pickles onto the Assembly Board. Watch as the burger magically constructs itself. Serve it to the customer with a Happy’s Humble Smile._

Magically? What kind of game is this? I guess it’s one of those restaurant tycoon/simulation games where some parts are done for you, like constructing a burger by putting ingredients on a board. There is some kind of horror vibe to it, hence the PS1 gameplay style. But, for now let’s just continue the game and see what happens.

We walk to the where the cash registers are, and – oh, for fuck’s sake! Really?! A microwave?! That is just sad. This is like _Kitchen Nightmares_ all over again! We’ve got a rat problem, the food is frozen, the only staff here is me and Black Tea, and I bet the bathrooms are god-awful. At least those people in _Kitchen Nightmares_ have the decency to hide those microwaves from the customers. What the hell is this?! Here, whoever put this here and owns this shithole, they’re not even trying. Then again, this is a game, so I bet the developers did that deliberately to show how sad and pathetic this place is. Or, they may just be trying to flip Gordon Ramsay off. Both are probably true.

Anyway, I open the door next to us when we got to the cash register. I told Black Tea, “I think the shop will open by turning on that sign over there. Wait here.” She nods. I walk past the door, and another rat runs out one of the bathrooms on my left. Jeez, this place is so bad, not even the pests sleaze around in the bathrooms. I walk to my right and go past the tables. I find a switch under the neon sign that reads _OPEN_ , which is currently turned off. I flip the switch and the _OPEN_ sign is on. The sign below read something like _Sorry, We're Closed_. Across the two large doors I'm next to is a large statue of a derpy anthropomorphic cow standing on a small pedestal that reads _Happy the Humble Heifer_ on one side and _Happy's Humble Burger Farm_ on the other.

As I walk back to Black Tea, I notice there is a certificate on a wall reading something about a health code and some signatures I can't read because they're in cursive. However, I quickly find out that the grade they gave for this place is a B+. I expected a C or C-. Maybe a D.

After opening the front doors and returning to Black Tea, she toggles on the lobby lights, so the place wouldn’t be as dark. I decide to play some music as well. There is an old laptop that only plays music from the 80’s and is plugged to an outlet on the wall. Conveniently, I grab a universal cable that I carry for occasions such as this out of my Inventory, I then plug one end into the laptop, and the other to the outlet. I the cable I have contains a device for storing data. So, it’s kind of like a flash drive but for electronics that don’t have a USB port. The Food Soul asked, “What are you doing?” I answer, “Hacking this laptop so I can add my own music into this thing.” By doing that, I upload a copy of the data I have on the cable into the laptop. There’s nothing much in there though; the only thing I’ve put into the electronic is a playlist of some of the best songs I’ve heard in different genres. I added, “Also, I just noticed the cow over there is named 'Happy the Humble Heifer,' which kinda explains why there are several cow figurines here and there. And why there's a cow near the front doors. Plus, she is the mascot of this place, hence the name.” “'She'?” Black Tea asked. “Yeah,” I replied, “didn't you notice the udder on that cow? Otherwise, Happy would've been a bull.”

A chime is heard as an awkward-looking NPC walks into the restaurant. They’re wearing a red shirt and blue pants. I greeted, “Oh, hi, welcome to Happy’s Humble Burger Barn. How may I help you?” The NPC says nothing and instead gives Black Tea some cash. I glance at the cash register in front of her and find that the person ordered a Happy’s Deluxe. Along with that, some high-pitched gibbering in Japanese is faintly heard from the NPC. I’ve no idea what they said, except for “ _konnichiwa”_ , “ _tabe”_ -something and probably “ _onegaishimasu”_. Black Tea asked, “Do you have any clue what they said?” “Nope,” I answered bluntly. “Me neither,” she added, “but we do know what they want thanks to the cash register.” Black Tea puts the cash into the register, and I walk to the back of the counter. One the way, I get startled by another rat, so I hop up with a knee still up the air, but briefly. I keep walking to grab a frozen patty and put it onto the grill. I can faintly hear it sizzling. A minute later, the patty turns brown, thus making it a cooked patty. I take it to the Assembly Board, and a Happy's Deluxe burger spawns in place of the ingredients. I take the burger and walk to the Food Soul, who seems uncomfortable by the appearance of herself and the NPC in front of her. I glimpse at the poster next to her. So, from what I’ve read, after getting the food and preparing the burgers, I just throw it to the patron. Okay … that’s an interesting mechanic. Black Tea tells the patron, “Your food is ready.” The person stares blankly. With a flick of my wrist, I gently throw the Happy’s Deluxe directly to the customer. An 8-bit chime is heard as the burger disappears suddenly. The customer walks out of the restaurant and disappears into the night.

Hardly a minute later, and another NPC walks into Happy's Humble Burger Barn. They look the same as the other one, but with orange pants and a pink shirt. They give Black Tea the cash, and she puts it in the cash register. I asked, “Would you like to do the job?” The Food Soul, who is uncomfortable enough by the previous customer, answered, “Definitely.” The cash register reads _Salmon Nuggets_ below _All Lobby Orders Displayed Here._ So, the Food Soul walks to the shelf containing the fries and boxes of salmon nuggets. She grabs one container of the nuggets and tosses it to the customer. The customer leaves immediately. In the meantime, I decide to go back to the laptop. A few second later, I finish uploading the copy of my playlist into the electronic. I press play, and Rise of the Northstar starts playing on the speakers from the ceiling.

We hear another chime, and a third customer enters the building. They've ordered some salmon nuggets and fries. I lob both items at once to them and they walk off. “Danny RPG,” Black Tea said, “I am going to take out the trash. You stay here and serve whatever customers enter this place.” I replied, “No problem.”

**Black Tea's P.O.V.**

I walk behind the counters and grill to see the three bags of trash sitting next to the freezer door. Looking at my hands, I guess my appearance is similar to that of Danny RPG and the … customers that have appeared. I asked, “Danny RPG, what do I look like exactly?” She remarked, “Right now, you look like the classic Lara Croft from the original _Tomb Raider_ , but in a fancy dress. How do I look?” A customer enters the building. I answered, “Your appearance isn't that much different, but you still bear a slight resemblance the other customers.”

“Must be how this game is designed. Eh, once this is over, we'll be sure to wake up in the morning.” I grab two of the bags and walk out of the door from the back. I remember we parked next to a dumpster, so I am sure that must be where I put these garbage bags. As I get near, I could hear flies buzzing quite loudly … and the dumpster is a lot more malodorous than I expected. Why did Danny RPG have to park next to such a foul area? Oh, well, at least that's two bags in the dumpster. There is one more I must deal with.

I return to Happy's Humble Burger Barn from the open back door and grab the last one. I notice there is an anthropomorphic cow figurine hiding behind the trash bag I picked up. _I wonder how Milk is doing?_ I thought. If what Danny RPG said is true then that means I'm sleeping beside Milk in the real world. After all, it would be strange enough to hear a woman say that we are fictional – another reason to believe the fact this is a dream. Maybe the real Danny RPG wouldn't have said that if she is awake, right? I guess I would have to ask her when I wake up. Still, what I don't understand is how the laws of physics seem to apply here even though none of this is real. Anyway, as I am having this internal monologue, I put the final bag into the dumpster. Immediately, I hear Danny RPG shriek in terror. _“_ _WHO THE FUCK KILLED ALL THE LIGHTS?!”_

I run back to the door, only to find that it is jammed by something on the other side. A muffled, distorted mooing is heard from inside. A dark figure swoops up from the distance and flames erupt from the wings and the end of the tail; it's Danny RPG. Whatever happened in that restaurant must have terrorized her to the point of cursing raucously and flying up with her weapon and her shield in hand. She flies to me and transforms into her Basic form and lands on my shoulders with utter terror in her eyes. She is hyperventilating as well, which is not a good sign for her anxiety. I must try my best to calm her down.

**Danny RPG's POV**

I try my best to control my breathing as Black Tea tries to comfort me. Holy shit, that auditory jumpscare was so loud. It reminds me of hearing Golden Freddy's jumpscare audio, but this is way worse than the former. After a minute, I finally calm down, but I'm still unsettled by the fact that the mooing is still going on. Not only is it distorted, it's slowed down. By the time the mooing faded, I decide to get off of Black Tea and glitch into my Standard form. She asked, “Are you feeling better?” I hesitantly replied, “Yeah, I think so….” She continued, “I would have helped you sooner, but the door is jammed.”

“It's alright; I'm alright. I mean, I didn't get hurt except for my ears.”

“Do you need a few more minutes before returning to the restaurant?”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks again.”

“No problem.”

I glance behind Black Tea and notice there is a vending machine nearby. I pointed out, “Hey, look. There's a vending machine over there. Maybe it has drinks or something. That shrieking made parched.” And so, we walk to the machine. It displays a photo of a jungle with the words _JUNGLE SODA; AFTER DARK_ on it. It seems that's the only thing that it can dispense. Still, I push the button on the right and a full soda can drops to the area where you pick up your item from one of these machines. I pick up the can and open it. A soft hiss is emitted from the can upon opening it. I take a swig and immediately spit it out. “This is disgusting!” I exclaimed. “It's flat and expired!” – I sigh – “Guess I'll have to stick with this thirst. It's better than this thing.” I walk to the dumpster and put the soda can in the trash where it belongs. I then walk back to Black Tea. She suggested, “I can brew some tea if you'd like.” I answered, “You can do that?” She looks mildly amused. “You never asked. Plus, I'm a Food Soul.” I feel amused by this too.

We walk to the front of the restaurant; both of the doors are open. The lights are still off, but the music is still playing. This time, it's playing JT Music's _Anytime You Smile_. I like that song; it's pretty catchy and lively. We turn on the lights, and when Black Tea asks me where the noise came from, I tell her, “I don’t know; it was everywhere and there wasn’t a specified source of where the noise came from. I would guess it came from Happy, but I just don’t know.” I turn on the kitchen lights. I look at the back and notice that a chair is blocking the door. I don’t who or what put it there, but at that solves the mystery of why Black Tea couldn’t get into the restaurant quicker.

We decide to continue to manage customers that come in. So far, the ones that have appeared didn’t order much of anything; one ordered a Happy’s Deluxe; the next one just wanted a milkshake; and the latest one … two shakes? Huh. I would’ve expected some fries to go with that. I joked, “No problem, I’ll have it served in _two shakes_ of a lamb’s tail, hahah.” The only sound that I hear is the laptop playing the original theme for _One Piece_. I remarked, “Sheesh, tough crowd.” After an awkward silence, I clear my throat and walk to the milkshake dispenser and grab two cups filled with the strawberry milkshake from the machine. I toss both of them to the customer and the lights suddenly go out as a music sting is heard from nowhere and the music from the laptop stops. Immediately, I jump as Black Tea and I let out a startled shriek. “Again?!” I exclaimed. “What the hell's going on?” Our weapons are deployed and we stand ground. I look at the front doors with the dark vision from my glasses and added, “Hey, Happy is gone!” A low garbled noise is heard from the drive-through window (or rather, a speaker that is used to hear what a customer wants from the drive-through). It's nothing more than a strange noise probably in gibberish, or possibly an audio clip that is slowed down and probably reversed. It's probably that same clip we heard from the patrons when they ordered food.

Black Tea opens the window and sticks her head out, looking left and right to see if there's anything outside. I jump out the window, scythe in my hand, I cautiously scan the area around me. I immediately notice there is something suspicious in the corner of the building. I gesture the Food Soul to follow me without saying a word. We sneak up against the wall, and we prepare to launch an attack. Slowly we approach the enemy … the only thing present is Happy and that huge sign you’d see on a drive-through where it has all of the items on the menu, including what toys does this place have in the kids’ menu. I don’t recognize any of the toys displayed on the sign except for a walkman and a tamagotchi. (Those still exist? Wow.) Setting that aside, something is very wrong with that cow; how can a statue be able to teleport from one place to another? Then again, there’s the Golden Watchers from _Dark Deception_ , but that’s not really teleporting. Plus, if it really was that game, I would’ve noticed immediately. Well, whatever this is, this might be the scariest restaurant game since _Five Nights at Freddy’s_ , and that’s saying something. Then, it suddenly hit me. “Hey, maybe the guy who owns this might know what to do.” Happy lets out an unsettling noise that lasts for several seconds. It's disturbing and loud. We walk backwards away from Happy slowly. We turn and rush to the back door, which unfortunately, it's jammed again. The noise, which happens to be that slowed-down, distorted mooing, continues.

I let out an exasperated sigh. I turn my left leg, lift my right knee, and give the door a powerful karate kick. The door doesn't budge. I turn to the front of the door and kick in the same way Vinsmoke Sanji would. I kick the door again, but it doesn't even have a dent where I kicked it. I remarked, “ _Kusō_ , this door's really tough!” Black Tea suggested, “Perhaps we should enter from the front.” Although what she said is partially drowned out by the creepy moo, I get what she said. I nod, and we walk, weapons out, to the front doors. By the time we make it to the doors, the mooing faded out. We turn the lights back on as the we walk to the back to get that damn chair out of the way again.

I remember there's a phone attached to the wall next to the machine where we clocked in. I grab the phone; there's a number written on it, which is labeled as _Boss No._ , so I use that number to call them. A male voice from the phone asked, “Yeah, hello?” Agitated, I yell from the phone, “Dude, there's some weird-ass shit going on! That cow just went to the drive through and the lights keep going off!” The guy becomes confused. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? You put the what in the cow?” Black Tea grabs the phone from me and states in a somewhat calm voice, “She said the cow is in the drive-through.” The boss asked, “Is this a fucking joke?” I grab the phone and snapped, “Of course it's not a fucking joke! What the hell do you think this is, a prank call?! Of course not!” Black Tea uttered, “Calm down, Danny RPG.” The guy asked, “I don't know, what the fuck do you need me to do, walk over there?” I asked, “Then perhaps you should bring someone here? Like a SWAT team or something? 'Cause, the longer we're here, the weirder things get.” He sighed, “Alright, I'll send someone there to help. Just stay put; stop causing trouble, alright.” The line disconnects.

I sigh, “Welp, I guess we're gonna be managing customers for the time being.” So, yeah, we're managing customers as usual, and no later than, like five of them, the lights go out again, the music stops, and we're scared half to death by these giant creepy humanoid faces with red eyes outside. I get so frightened, I jump onto Black Tea's arms with my tail and wings materialized, and she holds onto me like we're Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. Of course, after some shaking and trembling, we realize that the face and the humanoid figures aren't really doing anything, so after an awkward look, I get off of Black Tea.

I toggle the lobby lights. They're still working. Sadly, the music isn't. I don't like how the faces are staring down our souls, so I equip my scythe and I swing it down. A line of fire and energy where the slash occurred appears in midair, and flies to one of the faces. The face despawns. We cautiously walk out of the diner, weapons in hand. This is exceedingly unsettling. Suddenly, the place starts rumbling. The ground shakes violently. The next thing I know, I wake up and fall out of my bed. Thinking about it and confirming that it was indeed another dream where the laws of physics apply (sort of), and that this is another one-shot, there is only one thing to say about this….

The Food Soul that was with her wakes up with distress. Fortunately, she has been calmed down by the comforting presence of her partner Milk. The healer tells her, “You are finally awake, Black Tea. It sounds like you have had an awful nightmare.” Black Tea replied, “And a cynical one at that. I think I will have a word with Danny about this.”

_Thud!_

The duo looks up to where the noise came from. It sounded like it came from the attic, which is where Danny RPG sleeps. A familiar voice from above cursed, “I haven't had a dream that trippy since _Sister Location_. Well, _shit_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been hearing that the developers of Happy's Humble Burger Barn has made a sequel currently in its Alpha stage called Happy's Humble Burger Farm, so I wanted to write a fanfiction of that, but not without writing about the first game. This was fun to write, and I hope you guys like it too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this! If you have any ideas for ABW and want to share them, please let me know so I can write them down and possibly include them into this series!


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